Chinese hamster (CHO) ovary cells are the production host for a +50 billion €/yr biopharmaceuticals market. Current CHO production platforms dates to 1980 and are based primarily on media and process optimisation with little consideration to the optimization of the cellular machinery. Fortunately, with the recent sequencing of the CHO genome, an opportunity has opened to significantly advance the CHO platform. The benefit will be advanced production flexibility and a lower production cost, which will potentially advance European biotechnology.
Specifically the objectives of eCHO Systems were:
a) To train PhDs to overcome the barriers that currently exist between systems and synthetic biology innovation and traditional mammalian biotechnology research and education paradigms.
b) To break barriers between industry and academia, such that PhD students gain expertise in the latest biotechnology methods used in the CHO industry, and provide practical experience to the students by working in both sectors. The students have also taken biotechnology business development courses to learn about entrepreneurship.
c) The PhDs have transfered state-of-the-art genome scale research approaches in systems biology, genome engineering, and computational/bioinformatics tools into CHO biotechnology companies. Conversely, industrial advisors have provided scientific and technical expertise on projects and a product-oriented focus that will apply eCHO Systems innovations to commercial processes.
In summary, the research objectives of eCHO Systems were to apply the new genomics and systems biology-based data on CHO cells for advancement of current research and per extension to impact the non-academic sector to generate added value and increased competitive edge for European biotechnology
At the conclusion of the network activities, we find that the Network has performed the planned actions and achieved the desired impact. We have completed all deliverables of the original project plan – with the exception of minor partial goals, that were abandoned due to the state of the art expanding even faster than expected – and achieved all desired milestones. According to the original objectives, we have trained 15 PhDs that have been exposed to a combination of traditional biotechnology and synthetic and systems biology. They have worked at the interface between industry and academia, and have functioned as bridge builders in both directions, increasing the value of the network through new and strengthened synergies. As many of the activities are still continuing and the ESRs are still contributing to more dissemination, the effect will even increase over the coming months.
