NorZymeD - Enzyme development for Norwegian biomass - mining Norwegian biodiversity for seizing Norwegian opportunities in the bio-based economy
The basis for a national bio-economy lies in the development of a biorefining industry enabled by enzyme tools that are tailored for Norwegian biomass and business opportunities. This projcct focuses on developing enzymesand processes for biomasses and value chains where Norway has clear competitive advantages, namely lignocellulosics and marine co-products from fisheries and aquaculture. Starting at unique biodiversities of thearctic, hot vents and gut microbiomes, the project will build generic competence by establishing a national"enzyme developmcnt pipeline" . Through national complementarity and distribution of ta sks, we will combincexpertise on thermophilic enzymes in Bergen and cold-adapted enzymes in Tromsø, with expertise in enzymeengineering and applied enzymology in Ås, fermentation and screening facilities at SINTEF, and structuralcharacterization in Tromsø. We will develop generic technology competence in four work packages, focusing onmetagenomie sampling (WP I), screening and characterization of candidate enzymes (WP2,WP3), enzymeengineering (WP4) and larger-scale production for industrial trials (WP2). One innovative aim is to combinc the best of cold- and heat-adapted enzymes using bioinformatics, protein engineering and gene shuffling-baseddirected evolution. The project workflow will follow the value creation chain all the way to industrial trials. Thisis underscored by the involvement of two Norwegian companies with a strong R&D focus, which has made themleaders in lignocellulosic (WP5) and marine co-product biorcfining (WP6). By linking enzyme development intwo different value chains (blue and green), the project will unleash considerable synergies. Ethical, legal andsocietal aspects will be pursued in a dedicated work package (WP8). Expanding the interest to explorebiocatalytic opportunities will be an important task for the management group (WP7,WP9), which will interactstrongly with the Industrial Biotech Network Norway (IBNN).
Project facts
Name
NorZymeD - Enzyme development for Norwegian biomass - mining Norwegian biodiversity for seizing Norwegian opportunities in the bio-based economy
Status
CONCLUDED
Duration
01.12.12 - 30.11.17
