MicroBioGen announced that it opened state-of-the-art R&D laboratories facility in Sydney with an investment of $5 million. The dedicated laboratories will produce micro-organisms that are essential to industries worth over US$2 trillion per year, including biofuels, alternative proteins, space exploration, sustainable human foods and animal feed.
Australian industrial biotechnology leader MicroBioGen has officially opened its state-of-the-art laboratories in Macquarie Park in Northern Sydney. According to the company statement, the labs will produce world-leading micro-organisms that are essential to industries worth over US$2 trillion per year, including biofuels, alternative proteins, space exploration, sustainable human foods and animal feed.
A global innovator of specialised and bespoke strains of the common yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae – also known as baker’s yeast, MicroBioGen’s new labs represent a significant investment by the company to establish a world-leading industrial biotechnology hub in Australia.
“The new laboratories will allow us to expand our research capabilities, putting MicroBioGen and Australia at the forefront of global biotech and sustainable innovation,” said MicroBioGen CEO Geoff Bell. “By building a state-of-the-art facility we will attract and retain the brightest scientific minds to NSW (New South Wales), scientists who can help MicroBioGen advance its micro-organisms, especially in the areas of sustainability, biofuels, animal feed and alternative protein development. Exports currently make up 100 per cent of our revenues so it is essential that our facilities and our scientists are also the best in the world.”
Founded in Sydney in 2001, MicroBioGen’s first commercial ethanol products entered the North American market in 2017 through a partnership with Danish industrial biotech giant Novozymes. In just four years, MicroBioGen-developed yeast were the leading biocatalysts in the US biofuel market.
Twice the size of the Company’s previous research space, the 1,250 square metre facility will enable MicroBioGen to double its skilled scientific workforce to around 40 scientists including geneticists, and biofuel and baking specialists.
The dedicated R&D facility includes fermentation labs, a genetics lab and large preparation rooms, all equipped with the latest technology including robots, high performance liquid chromatography and minus 80C˚ freezers.
A critical partner for a sustainable future MicroBioGen is a critical partner and key contributor of sustainable solutions for a range of industries around the world, as they seek to reduce GHG emissions and improve the efficiency of energy and food production. The new labs ensure MicroBioGen can continue to develop and advance innovative yeast products to address these pressing global concerns. The company has been awarded significant Federal funding from AusIndustry and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). In 2021, the Company successfully completed an $8 million project half-funded by ARENA, in partnership with the world’s largest industrial biotechnology company, Novozymes, to breed a strain of yeast that will produce a more efficient and economical second-generation (2G) biofuel from non-food sources with the aim of transforming the global ethanol industry and improving food security by enabling food and fuel production from abundant, low-value waste plant material.
“While we will continue to provide and improve superior yeast strains for the biofuels industry, our technology is highly adaptable and extends far beyond ethanol production. We have developed yeast strains that are ideal for human applications such as baking and baking ingredients. Our advanced technology, genetics expertise and collaborative spirit can also be brought into other industry partnerships to produce cutting-edge enzymes, biochemicals, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, animal feed, and even wine and beer.” said MicroBioGen Head of Research Dr Philip Bell.
