IBISBA 1.0 − Industrial biotechnology innovation and synthetic biology accelerator

IBISBA 1.0 is a H2020-funded project that aims at building a European distributed network of research facilities to provide innovation services and accelerate translation of bioscience research into industrial applications.

IBISBA 1.0.

Since October 2017, Fraunhofer IGB and 15 other European partners are developing a concept for a pan-European research infrastructure with the aim of accelerating future innovations in the field of Industrial Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology. The long-term goal is to define a European “Industrial Biotechnology Innovation and Synthetic Biology Accelerator” and to make it available for first use by selected industrial customers.

Objective: Network of industrial biotechnology research infrastructure facilities

The overarching aim of IBISBA 1.0 is to support and accelerate the uptake of industrial biotechnology as a key enabling technology for advanced manufacturing. To do this, IBISBA 1.0 will provide a distributed network of research infrastructure facilities to promote R&D in bioprocess development and support this bioeconomy KET. The facilities cover a variety of experimental and in silico operations and disciplines, and together represent the R&D continuum in the range TRL2 to 6 needed to build quality biomanufacturing processes for industrialization.

In addition to hardware, IBISBA 1.0 will operate an ICT platform, linking all project events occurring on facilities, and external data repositories, and provide users with end-to-end project management and access to a wide variety of research assets. Together, these developments create the basis for a future pan-European research infrastructure for industrial biotechnology, the feasibility of which will be established during the project.

Through IBISBA 1.0, the participant facilities will be opened for transnational access, thus providing cutting edge technologies to a cross section of Europe’s researchers, including early career stage scientists. Users and facility operators will receive remote and on-site training, and immersion in the hallmark multidisciplinary environment of IBISBA 1.0. Transnational access will be facilitated by an ambition outreach plan that will provide users, including SMEs and other industry players, with complete information about service offers, but also insight into the potentiality of IPR held by IBISBA 1.0 partners and the opportunities for innovation. Interoperability will be a focus of considerable attention, with actions directed towards harmonization and the implementation of repeatable working practices that integrate experimentation with data analysis, and data management, thus providing the basis for the sharing and reuse of data assets in a framework of Open Science.

"Transnational Access" support SMEs in industrial biotechnology

At Fraunhofer CBP, the fermentation process was scaled up for the Belgian SME Calidris Bio to produce relevant sample quantities of the desired protein.

Through IBISBA, it was possible for researchers, SMEs and large companies to gain subsidized access to the specialized research structures and facilities of the IBISBA network. A total of five calls for so-called Transnational Access Projects (TNA) were published regularly, to which researchers from the public and private sectors could apply.

Fraunhofer IGB is involved in a total of four TNA projects with its working groups "Bioprocess Engineering" and "Bioprocess Scale-up" in the Industrial Biotechnology innovation field.

Scale-up of microbial protein production for Calidris Bio

In 2021, the first TNA project was successfully completed in cooperation with the Belgian start-up company Calidris Bio, which is active in the feed and food industry. Here, a fermentation process for the production of microbial proteins was optimized and scaled up to the 1 m³ scale. This allowed the provision of relevant data and sample quantities at Fraunhofer CBP for process evaluation and product testing.

Calidris Bio uses microorganisms that can convert available substrates into biomass with high protein content. The resulting microbial protein is rich in essential amino acids, vitamins, prebiotics and special fatty acids with customized composition and is suitable for application as feed for livestock, aquaculture and pets. Together with Fraunhofer IGB, Calidris Bio succeeded in taking a first step towards commercializing their process.

EU project workshop IBISBA within the framework of the BIOKET

July 2, 2020 − IBISBA within the global context of biofoundries and accelerated end-to-end bioprocess development

Privacy warning

With the click on the play button an external video from www.youtube.com is loaded and started. Your data is possible transferred and stored to third party. Do not start the video if you disagree. Find more about the youtube privacy statement under the following link: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Project information

Project title

IBISBA 1.0 − Industrial Biotechnology Innovation and Synthetic Biology Accelerator

 

Project duration

December 2017 – May 2022

 

Project partners

  • French National Institute for Agricultural Research, France (Coordination)
  • Toulouse National Institute of Applied Science, France
  • Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Belgium
  • University of Nantes, France
  • Fraunhofer IGB, Germany
  • Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), Finland
  • Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
  • National Research Council of Italy, Italy
  • National Technical University of Athens, Greece
  • French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, France
  • Spanish National Research Council, Spain
  • University of Manchester, United Kingdom
  • KNIME GmbH, Germany
  • Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, France
  • Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands
  • LifeGlimmer GmbH, Germany
  • INRA Transfert S.A., France

Funding

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 730976.