DISCOvery paves the path to a sustainable future using biotechnology
At the height of health and environmental concerns in an increasingly industrialised world, biotechnology is the leading force in the investigation and discovery of renewable bio-production. Aqua-, and agriculture, health and beauty industries predominantly use chemically-produced substances in nutrition, medicine and cosmetics whose production has adverse effects on the ecosystem. Due to the vast chemical diversity, plants are still a vitally undiscovered and minimally exploited source of bioactive compounds found in nature. In order to alleviate the reliance on expensive chemical synthesis, there is a need to understand the mechanisms with which plants produce bioactive substances so that these processes may be optimised by metabolic engineering. Among others there are two important plant families, namely Solanaceae and Iridaceae, which have recently been identified as promising biosources and which consist of different plant species such as tomato and potato as well as saffron respectively. These in turn contain natural compounds that can be used for multiple health and medicinal purposes: as antioxidants and prophylactics in cancer and arteriosclerosis treatment, for the production of the coenzyme Q10 found in anti-aging cosmetic products, and as analgesics to ease stomach cramps. Further investigating these sustainable, future-oriented biosources is at the heart of the new EU funded research project called DISCO. From DISCOvery to products Equipped with a budget of 6.5 million euros, DISCO (From DISCOvery to products: A next generation pipeline for the sustainable generation of high-value plant products) sets out over the next four years to fine-tune bioactive compound extraction procedures using the latest enabling technologies to achieve industrial valorisation and commercialisation. Furthermore, with the delivery of sustainable biosources, DISCO aims to eliminate future detrimental chemical refining by developing “green factories”, and therefore reduce environmental impact. The project coordinator, Professor Paul D. Fraser of Royal Holloway and Bedford New College has brought together a multi-national and multi-disciplinary alliance of experts from fifteen academic and industrial partner institutions. “Despite notable scientific achievements there have been relatively little commercialization or feasibility studies performed to date on the production of bioactives from renewable sources”, Fraser states. “Therefore one of our major objectives within DISCO is to address these issues and to create a framework that can act as a generic pipeline capable of taking discovery and innovation through application and validation, to translation and industrial valorisation.” The DISCO partners have vast experience in metabolic engineering, hyper-production of high-value plant substances, and in bringing the technology to the market. The consortium is able to build on preceding achievements and preceding EU project outputs to deliver both scientific excellence with economic and societal impact. DISCO thus represents a timely opportunity to translate innovation into commercial practice. The DISCO consortium officially kicked off its activities in London mid of February.
Países
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, United Kingdom