b'Engineering Biology for Climate ResilienceCASE STUDY The world is facing a climate emergency, with global warming projected to exceed the critical 1.5C threshold by 2035. Achieving sustainable, net-zero practices in the chemicals manufacturing sector, currently the third-largest consumer of fossil resources and carbon emitter, is essential to mitigating climate change. Engineering biology-powered biotechnological manufacturing offers a promising, environmentally friendly alternative to fossil-based production. However, two major challenges hinder its scalability: 1) difficulty competing with fossil-based manufacturing in cost-effectiveDr Jordan MacInnes and Dr Esther Karunakaran with volume production, and 2) low volumetric productivity,prototype reactors.largely due to reliance on stirred-tank bioreactors.and some proof-of-concept results for a bacteria biofilm Dr Jordan MacInnes and Dr Esther Karunakaran,producing lactic acid using a research device designed researchers from the University of Sheffield,for fluid phase contacting.Funding from NBIC directly have developed and patented a compact, high- supported the design, construction and preliminary performance continuous bioreactor using a rotatingtesting of two prototype reactors, which represent a spiral format and biofilm as a biocatalyst. Thiscredible blueprint for commercially viable reactors.innovative design offers two key advantages: 1) its inherent potential to achieve scale up from theInitial prototypes, developed with NBIC support, have R&D lab to manufacturing in a single step, andplaced the team in a good position to move towards 2) demonstrated 75-fold increase in volumetriccommercialisation. Tests demonstrated 15x productivity productivity. Unilever Ltd has submitted a patent forincrease of conventional stirred tank bioreactors and the use of this technology for the manufacture ofthis has steadily increased with optimisation and added ingredients for home and personal care products. functionality, now standing at 75x. This progress led to participation in commercialisation programmes, This bioreactor not only boosts productivity inincluding ICURe Discover and Explore. The team existing biotechnological processes but alsohave also received funding from SynbiCITE that is enables the sustainable production of new chemicalallowing them to run tests for potential customers.classes previously considered too complex for conventional methods. It supports the UKsThe team envisage that their first commercial reactor bioeconomy and accelerates the transition to awill be lab-scale, matching the output of a 10L net-zero carbon economy. Dr Jordan MacInnesstirred-tank reactor but with a smaller footprint and from the University of Sheffield said, scalable performance. The team is engaging with several SMEs who have expressed strong interest Prior to the support from NBIC we had little morein the technology and are moving forward with than an idea for the rotating spiral channel bioreactorcase-study testing using the prototype reactors.Dr MacInnes developsDr Karunakaran studies microfluidic rotating spiralmicrobial physiology and devices for fluid and solidbiofilm transitions, applying phase mass exchange,this knowledge to control advancing distillation,behaviour, advance sustainable absorption, extraction, andbiomanufacturing, and develop particle-catalyzed reactions,solutions against emerging through 15 years of mechanicalinfectious diseases, with Dr Jordan MacInnes engineering research. Dr Esthernumerous scholarly publications.Karunakaran 20 20'