Strain Engineering

SCREENING / MICROBIOLOGY

Equipped with state-of-the-art automated liquid handling systems and multi-mode microplate readers, we design, develop and implement a wide variety of miniaturized cellular and biochemical assays to query the extracts or microbial strains in NPL for bioactive compounds, enzymes or strains with functional properties suitable for various industrial applications. Our in silico structure-function modelling approach further enables screening in a more targeted fashion. Once a lead substance or strain has been identified, we use bioinformatics tools to uncover new producers of target compounds, new compound analogues or strains with similar biochemical properties through chemical screening and genome mining.

METABOLIC / PROTEIN ENGINEERING

We develop and apply synthetic biology and metabolic engineering approaches for the engineering of biological systems, at the protein, biosynthetic pathway, and production host levels to address challenges in nutrition, healthcare and biobased chemicals production. Our tools and platforms aim to deliver better technological solutions for biocatalysis and microbial cell factory development.