Objective
Metabolic engineering is the development of new cell factories or improving existing ones, and it is the enabling science that allows for sustainable production of fuels and chemicals through biotechnology. With the development in genomics and functional genomics, it has become interesting to evaluate how advanced high-throughput experimental techniques (transcriptome, proteome, metabolome and fluxome) can be applied for improving the process of metabolic engineering. These techniques have mainly found applications in life sciences and studies of human health, and it is necessary to develop novel bioinformatics techniques and modelling concepts before they can provide physiological information that can be used to guide metabolic engineering strategies. In particular it is challenging how these techniques can be used to advance the use of mathematical modelling for description of the operation of complex metabolic networks. The availability of robust mathematical models will allow a wider use of mathematical models to drive metabolic engineering, in analogy with other fields of engineering where mathematical modelling is central in the design phase. In this project the advancement of novel concepts, models and technologies for enhancing metabolic engineering will be done in connection with the development of novel cell factories for high-level production of different classes of products. The chemicals considered will involve both commodity type chemicals like 3-hydroxypropionic acid and malic acid, that can be used for sustainable production of polymers, an industrial enzyme and pharmaceutical proteins like human insulin.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgenetics
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologymetabolic engineering
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsproteomics
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicssustainable economy
- natural sciencesmathematicsapplied mathematicsmathematical model
Call for proposal
ERC-2009-AdG
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
ERC-AG - ERC Advanced GrantHost institution
412 96 GOTEBORG
Sweden