Understanding and controlling biological systems

This research area aims to advance our current knowledge of biological systems, which is often purely descriptive, to achieve a reliable ability to predict the properties of biocatalysts designed for use in industrial settings.

Over the past twenty years, significant efforts have been made to describe biological systems as a collection of basic modules with simple functions. When assembled, these modules can perform a series of functions in a typical "bottom-up" approach. New biological properties can therefore be constructed either by manipulating the properties of these individual modules or by combining new sets. Biological engineering, also known as synthetic biology, has extensively demonstrated, at the laboratory scale, the very promising ability of biocatalysts (macromolecules or organisms) to carry new functionalities.

Unfortunately, most work conducted under these conditions describes extremely sophisticated methods for controlling the properties of these biological systems, but these methods are generally not applicable in an industrial context. This is particularly true regarding the speed and reliability of DBTL (Design Build Test Learn) cycles, the robustness of biocatalysts (enzymes or microorganisms) in a bioreactor, and the ability to control these biocatalysts in real-time.

Therefore, there is still a need to overcome scientific and technological barriers to securely design robust and efficient biotechnological applications. Two main research axes have been identified, distinguishing between molecular biocatalysts (biocatalytic systems using natural and/or reconstructed macromolecular systems) and cellular biocatalysts (cellular factories, natural or synthetic microbial systems).

This research area consists of four targeted projects and will be complemented by projects selected from the program’s call for projects:

Flagship projects:

• Nanomachines: construction of macromolecular nanomachines composed of natural or synthetic biocatalysts (enzymes)
• Tbox4BioProd: a toolkit for optimized allocation of portable resources between different microbial species
• Collimator: metabolic control in bioreactors operating with either pure species or microbial consortia to stabilize and optimize production
• AlgAdvance: domestication of microalgae as a renewable resource for biofuels

Winners of the 2024 call for projects:

• BioFUMAC: a new pathway for bio-based acrylic acid through robust fungal production of fumaric acid and engineering of a novel decarboxylase.
• COPE: chassis Optimization by Proteome-allocation Engineering for diverse bio-production applications.
• Flavolases: hijacking the Flavobacterium type IX secretion machinery for efficient cellulolytic activity.
• PRODIGES: process-driven genetic engineering strategies.
• PuLCO: integrated approach on copper systems to improve recalcitrant polysaccharide utilization.