greenE - 17-11-2013 at 06:52
Hi everyone,
I'm a molecular biologist who turned DIYbio right after finishing PhD. I co-founded a biotech start-up with main focus onto synthetic biology and
genetic engineering. We design enzymes to catalyse different biochemical reactions and by stacking them into a single bacterial cell we make
artificial metabolic pathways for production of various organic molecules from renewable sources.
We confirmed the method on few examples (more of an academic interest but more about it when we publish the work). Now, we are interested in
establishing technologies to produce some of commercially important molecules.
That leads me to the reason for addressing all of you. Essentially, I need some inspiration what to take as the next project. I hope that you can help
me and point me in the right direction.
When it comes to requirements/limitation for the product molecule.
1. Market needs to be significant as R&D is on an intensive side and to be worth, potential downstream income needs to be stable. The final
sustainability of a project is influenced by combination of price and volume.
Enzymes can be very specific and an obvious advantage is in producing molecules with multiple stereocentres, multiple functional groups... This is
where our technology it the most likely to find application.
2. Easy to purify from the fermentation broth.
4. Smaller number of reaction steps is preferred.
My search for new "products" is very slow and I would appreciate any suggestion concerning potential candidate molecules.
Best,
Srdjan