iBB

BERG-iBB researchers have just started their participation in the Project INMARE (Industrial Applications of Marine Enzymes: Innovative screening and expression platforms to discover and use the functional protein diversity from the sea”), a new international consortium of more than 20 partners from academia and industry from 12 countries, including leading multinational industrial partners, funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Program. The project will mine for and use newly discovered microbial enzymes and metabolites, in particular for the targeted production of fine chemicals, environmental clean-up technologies and anti-cancer drugs.

The IST team, led by Prof. Joaquim Sampaio Cabral and Dr. Carla de Carvalho, will develop reactors and integrated processes to assess and improve biocatalysts under both natural and simulated process conditions. Since the majority of microbes from extreme environments cannot be cultured under standard lab conditions, the team will also propose new techniques and growth conditions to cultivate such microorganisms.