Precision fermentation and microbial bioengineering
We rely on yeasts as our microbial cell factories. Yeast cells consume sugars found in plant sources and produce alcohol from them. Known as fermentation, that is the core technology behind making beer, wine, and bread.
Put simply, we engineer yeast cells to produce different replicas of animal fats instead of alcohol. Following that, the yeasts ferment sugars and ultimately produce customized fats.
A closer look at the process
Repurposing Yeast
Yeasts have been used to produce foods and beverages like bread, beer, and wine for thousands of years.
Yeast cells are robust and reliable industrial workhorses. Maybe that’s why biotechnology uses them as the catalysts of choice in industries ranging from bioethanol to insulin production.
Melt&Marble pushes this process one step further by engineering yeasts at the core to produce fats with different properties.
Rewiring metabolism
Metabolism is a network of pathways through which molecules flow. By engineering the metabolism of yeast cells, they can convert natural sugars into fats. Using specialized enzymes, we then dictate the structure and properties of the fats, including chain length and saturation. The result? We can customize fats for specific applications, produce identical replicas of animal fats, and design fats with new properties.
Iterative improvement cycle
Thanks to iterative development cycles and state-of-the-art technology, we can use synthetic biology tools to create and screen different yeast cell designs. Then we decide which designs work best and repeat the process until we have robust and high-producing cells with the desired fat profiles.
Check out our toolbox
test
Screening and
characterization
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Biosensors screening
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OMICS & high-throughput
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Controlled bioreactors
build
Synthetic
biology toolbox
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Expression systems
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Pathway control
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Enzyme libraries
design
Rational design and computational tools
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Modeling
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Bioinformatics
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Target prediction