iFermenter

The iFermenter project aims at (a) the manufacturing of antimicrobials as industrial products from sugar residual streams originating from pulp industry and (b) the development of an intelligent fermentation process for cost-effective, sustainable production. To achieve this, we engineer Corynebacterium glutamicum strains using synthetic biology tools called BioBricks. These genetic bricks are analogous to LEGO bricks; they are modification of the genome in a modular manner. Europe has over 14 million tons of sugar residuals from biorefineries. Therefore, this feedstock shows a huge economic potential for the manufacturing of high-value industrial products and will contribute to a sustainable bioeconomy. Our goal is to design an intelligent fermentation (iFermenter) system that exploits the sugar mixture in the residual streams to prolong fermentation processes and increase productivity. This project received funding from the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI-JU) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant agreement no. 790507).