Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DIGIBIO (Centre for Digitalisation of Biology Towards the Next-Generation of Biosustainable Products)
Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2025-02-28
Context and Motivation
Biological innovation is fundamentally changing our ability to address major challenges in energy, healthcare, food security, and climate change. Realizing the potential of bioengineering and digitalisation demands integrated expertise, cutting-edge infrastructure, and strong industry links. Estonia’s dynamic research environment makes it well-suited to lead this transformation, but achieving leadership in digital biology and biosustainability depends on scaling up its R&D capabilities.
Overall Project Objectives
DigiBio unites the University of Tartu, TalTech, and DTU to upgrade the Estonian Centre for Bioengineering (ECB) into the autonomous Estonian Bioengineering Centre (EBC), a state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence. By combining Estonian and Danish strengths, DigiBio will build a European hub for digital biology and biosustainability, driving the digital transformation of biosciences and serving as a launchpad for innovative research, start-ups, and impactful collaborations.
Key Actions and Approach
The project is structured around seven work packages:
- Coordinated project and consortium management.
- Institutional transformation, giving EBC its own legal and financial independence.
- Establishment of the Bioengineering Digitalisation Platform (BDP) to accelerate the “design-build-test-learn” cycle, integrating computation, biology, and FAIR data.
- Establishment of the Biofoundry, with automated workflows for genetic engineering and biomanufacturing, enabling rapid prototyping and optimisation.
- Human capital development, providing education and diverse career pathways to nurture future biotech leaders.
- Long-term sustainability through developing industry links, business incubators, the Bioeconomy Development Foundation, and tech transfer.
- Engagement and dissemination activities: open collaboration, workshops, and partnerships at national and international levels.
Significance and Expected Impact
DigiBio is poised to make Estonia a leader in digital bioengineering, upgrading research infrastructure, attracting talent and funding, and fostering scientific discoveries. It will accelerate economic and industrial growth via new partnerships, technologies and bio-based products, support high-quality training, and address environmental and societal needs. By nurturing a robust innovation ecosystem, DigiBio will ensure long-term benefits for Estonia, Europe, and beyond through next-generation biotechnologies and strong public-private networks.
Biological innovation is fundamentally changing our ability to address major challenges in energy, healthcare, food security, and climate change. Realizing the potential of bioengineering and digitalisation demands integrated expertise, cutting-edge infrastructure, and strong industry links. Estonia’s dynamic research environment makes it well-suited to lead this transformation, but achieving leadership in digital biology and biosustainability depends on scaling up its R&D capabilities.
Overall Project Objectives
DigiBio unites the University of Tartu, TalTech, and DTU to upgrade the Estonian Centre for Bioengineering (ECB) into the autonomous Estonian Bioengineering Centre (EBC), a state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence. By combining Estonian and Danish strengths, DigiBio will build a European hub for digital biology and biosustainability, driving the digital transformation of biosciences and serving as a launchpad for innovative research, start-ups, and impactful collaborations.
Key Actions and Approach
The project is structured around seven work packages:
- Coordinated project and consortium management.
- Institutional transformation, giving EBC its own legal and financial independence.
- Establishment of the Bioengineering Digitalisation Platform (BDP) to accelerate the “design-build-test-learn” cycle, integrating computation, biology, and FAIR data.
- Establishment of the Biofoundry, with automated workflows for genetic engineering and biomanufacturing, enabling rapid prototyping and optimisation.
- Human capital development, providing education and diverse career pathways to nurture future biotech leaders.
- Long-term sustainability through developing industry links, business incubators, the Bioeconomy Development Foundation, and tech transfer.
- Engagement and dissemination activities: open collaboration, workshops, and partnerships at national and international levels.
Significance and Expected Impact
DigiBio is poised to make Estonia a leader in digital bioengineering, upgrading research infrastructure, attracting talent and funding, and fostering scientific discoveries. It will accelerate economic and industrial growth via new partnerships, technologies and bio-based products, support high-quality training, and address environmental and societal needs. By nurturing a robust innovation ecosystem, DigiBio will ensure long-term benefits for Estonia, Europe, and beyond through next-generation biotechnologies and strong public-private networks.
During the first 18 months, the consortium, led by UTARTU with support from TalTech and DTU, established a strong foundation for high-throughput biological research and technology development.
Establishing the Biofoundry:
Labs at UTARTU and TalTech were renovated and equipped with new furniture and state-of-the-art instruments, including high-throughput spectrophotometers, incubators, automated liquid handlers, colony picking robots, mass spectrometers, and plate readers. These upgrades enable automated, data-driven research and scalable pilot projects.
Progress in Methodologies and Platforms:
TalTech implemented a bioinformatics platform for enzyme design and is converting manual workflows to automated processes, creating a unified high-throughput system for enzyme discovery and protein engineering. At UTARTU, a pilot project began developing a cell-free system to prototype genetic parts and pathways in microbes. After initial manual experiments, processes are now shifting to high-throughput automation, increasing capacity for rapid, parallel testing and accelerating new biosynthetic routes for sustainable chemical and biomaterial production.
Future Directions:
By the end of the period, the basis for fully automated biofoundry research was in place. The consortium will now expand research with advanced computational tools and machine learning, supporting rapid development of sustainable biotechnologies and continued excellence in European bioengineering.
Establishing the Biofoundry:
Labs at UTARTU and TalTech were renovated and equipped with new furniture and state-of-the-art instruments, including high-throughput spectrophotometers, incubators, automated liquid handlers, colony picking robots, mass spectrometers, and plate readers. These upgrades enable automated, data-driven research and scalable pilot projects.
Progress in Methodologies and Platforms:
TalTech implemented a bioinformatics platform for enzyme design and is converting manual workflows to automated processes, creating a unified high-throughput system for enzyme discovery and protein engineering. At UTARTU, a pilot project began developing a cell-free system to prototype genetic parts and pathways in microbes. After initial manual experiments, processes are now shifting to high-throughput automation, increasing capacity for rapid, parallel testing and accelerating new biosynthetic routes for sustainable chemical and biomaterial production.
Future Directions:
By the end of the period, the basis for fully automated biofoundry research was in place. The consortium will now expand research with advanced computational tools and machine learning, supporting rapid development of sustainable biotechnologies and continued excellence in European bioengineering.
DigiBio has delivered major advances in European and global bioengineering, establishing benchmarks in digitalisation of bioscience research. In its first period, the project set up innovative infrastructures and implemented scientific, technical, and organisational solutions that go well beyond the previous state of the art.
A central achievement is the creation of a cutting-edge Bioengineering Digitalisation Platform (BDP), integrating automated lab infrastructure with advanced data management and analytics. This enables rapid “design-build-test-learn” cycles and unites experimental workflows with bioinformatics and machine learning. Consequently, the consortium can run large-scale, parallel biological experiments and accelerate new strains, enzymes, and bioprocesses for a sustainable bioeconomy.
Both UTARTU and TalTech now house fully automated labs with advanced tools: high-throughput spectrophotometers, liquid handlers, colony pickers, and mass spectrometers. These enhancements, together with custom bioinformatics platforms, empower Estonia and the Baltic region to lead in synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and data-driven research.
DigiBio’s international impact is underscored by more than 40 research articles in high-impact journals, nine new research collaborations across fields, and €12.5 million in additional funding. By bridging science and industry via the Sustainable Innovation Office and Bioeconomy Development Foundation, DigiBio offers direct access to advanced bioengineering services and expertise to businesses and stakeholders.
To maximise the economic and societal value of its achievements, DigiBio highlights the need for ongoing research, open-access data policies, continued investment, robust IPR, and regulatory dialogue supporting digital bioengineering innovation across Europe. DigiBio’s solutions now serve as a model for digital biofoundries and translational research pipelines, driving progress in sustainability, health, and digital biology.
A central achievement is the creation of a cutting-edge Bioengineering Digitalisation Platform (BDP), integrating automated lab infrastructure with advanced data management and analytics. This enables rapid “design-build-test-learn” cycles and unites experimental workflows with bioinformatics and machine learning. Consequently, the consortium can run large-scale, parallel biological experiments and accelerate new strains, enzymes, and bioprocesses for a sustainable bioeconomy.
Both UTARTU and TalTech now house fully automated labs with advanced tools: high-throughput spectrophotometers, liquid handlers, colony pickers, and mass spectrometers. These enhancements, together with custom bioinformatics platforms, empower Estonia and the Baltic region to lead in synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and data-driven research.
DigiBio’s international impact is underscored by more than 40 research articles in high-impact journals, nine new research collaborations across fields, and €12.5 million in additional funding. By bridging science and industry via the Sustainable Innovation Office and Bioeconomy Development Foundation, DigiBio offers direct access to advanced bioengineering services and expertise to businesses and stakeholders.
To maximise the economic and societal value of its achievements, DigiBio highlights the need for ongoing research, open-access data policies, continued investment, robust IPR, and regulatory dialogue supporting digital bioengineering innovation across Europe. DigiBio’s solutions now serve as a model for digital biofoundries and translational research pipelines, driving progress in sustainability, health, and digital biology.