FP7 KYROBIO Biocatalyst Project Results Webinar

EU FP7 project ‘KYROBIO' have produced an end of project webinar titled 'The Discovery, Development and Demonstration of Biocatalysis for use in the Industrial Synthesis of Chiral Chemicals'. The webinar gives a brief overview of the four year project whose main objective was to broaden the toolbox of single enantiomer chiral chemicals manufactured in Europe using biotechnological routes. Its specific focus was to enable the industrial application of the lyase class of enzymes which can selectively synthesise molecules with multiple chiral centres.

The KYROBIO project used an SME-focused approach to address industrially identified needs for chiral synthesis using biocatalysis with partners that have the potential to exploit the project results. The overarching challenge was that multiple chiral centres form a significant feature in several chosen industrially useful chemicals.

The control of reaction stereochemistry was targeted for added value in the KYROBIO technology. This leads to challenges in molecular biology, enzymology and process engineering to name but a few. All these areas are covered in the webinar that is embedded below. The project ran from 1 Dec 2011 to 30 November 2015.



About KYROBIO
The objective of KYROBIO project was to broaden the toolbox of single enantiomer chiral chemicals that are produced by industry in Europe using biotechnological routes. The main target is applications of lyase enzymes to selectively synthesize molecules with multiple chiral centres applying enzymatic carbon-carbon and carbon-nitrogen bond formation as the key technical platforms. Synthetic biological techniques were then applied to improve fermentation processes in order to generate better enzymes.

Chiral compounds are an important class of chemicals that have great potential to compete with chemocatalysts in their production processes with associated benefits from reduction in use of organic solvents, toxic metals and energy. However their application has been relatively limited so far. KYROBIO addressed the main challenges to moving forward to the next generation of added value industrial applications of white biotechnology for high value chemical synthesis.

Using a supradisciplinary approach ranging from enzyme development, chemistry, molecular biology, fermentation and innovative isolation techniques the bottlenecks to applying this new technology have been addressed.

KYROBIO has emphasised the dissemination of green sustainable chemistry to a broad audience of industry leaders, academics, policymakers and the public. Researchers have conducted a vigorous public outreach campaign including networking events, webinars, and public science education and training events.

The novel biocatalysts developed in the project are targeted for commercialisation within three years of the project completion. KYROBIO expects to put the EU at the forefront of efficient, sustainable and eco-friendly chemical production that benefits industry, consumers and the environment.

You can find more information about KYROBIO activities and results on its CORDIS information page (that includes links to some research papers reporting project results), or on the KYROBIO website or by contacting project coordinator Ed Jones.