New Funding puts Norwich at the Heart of Green Technologies

With over £5.5 million of funding over five years, researchers at the Institute of Food Research and the John Innes Centre will help make the UK a world leader in industrial biotechnology. 

Four of 13 new national ‘Networks in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy’ announced during December by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) will be co-led by scientists at IFR and JIC on the Norwich Research Park.

The Food Processing Waste and By-Products Utilisation Network will investigate ways of turning vegetable and fruit trimmings into a range of useful chemicals, including biofuels, biopolymers and pharmaceuticals.

The High Value Chemicals from Plants Network will promote the industrial application of the vast range of substances found in plants to provide better plant-derived chemicals for use in sectors such as therapeutic drugs, industrial oils and fats, personal care, nutraceuticals, and fragrance and flavour products.

The Natural Products Discovery and Bioengineering Network (NPRONET) will accelerate the industrial application of valuable chemicals from microbes. JIC has a long history of contributing to the discovery of therapeutic compounds from the bacterium Streptomyces, the source of half of the antibiotics in use today. The network will develop its potential for further, urgently-required antibiotics and other valuable products including agrochemicals to protect crop yields.

The Glycoscience Tools for Biotechnology and Bioenergy (IBCarb) network will build on recent advances in knowledge about the synthesis and properties of carbohydrates. 

Each network has been funded to support a range of small proof of concept research projects; the next phase of development will be to involve industrial partners to support the development of these ideas from concept to commercialisation.