BIOWIN:
AI-supported biotechnology for resource-efficient active ingredient and bio-nylon production

SAB /JTF Joint project funded by:

The main objective of the project is the development of innovative and sustainable technologies for the production of active ingredients and chemicals based on renewable resources. Today’s pharmaceutical and chemical industry is mainly based on energy-intensive petrochemicals and is therefore facing a fundamental shift towards the energy- and land-efficient utilisation of renewable resources. The dependence on fossil energy and rising energy prices are currently directly affecting our industry. BASF, for example, recently closed two energy-intensive ammonia plants at its Ludwigshafen site and announced the loss of 2,600 jobs. This project aims to develop resource- and energy-efficient bioprocesses with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and in-silico modelling. This includes two product areas, the antifibrinolytic active ingredient ε-aminocaproic acid (ACA) and monomers as building blocks of bio-nylon.
The production strategies for both product classes are based on the same artificial metabolic pathways (in vivo cascades) developed at the UFZ and Leipzig University, which are to be further optimised and brought into suitable process setups. The development of the process setups is supported by or based on AI approaches.

Principal Investigator (PI)

Dr. Ing. Rohan Karande

Partners

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ
(Prof. Bruno Bühler, Coordinator)
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
(Dr. Nico Scherf)

Duration

01.04.2024 − 30.06.2026