Our key focus
At InBio.be we use the power and diversity of microorganisms to drive innovation. Our research focuses on industrial or white biotechnology, which uses microorganisms and their components to make a wide range of products such as biofuels, chemicals, biomaterials, and ingredients for food, feed and cosmetics. Microorganisms use renewable resources and do not ask for extreme reaction conditions, which makes this production method more sustainable compared to e.g. chemical production processes. In addition, chemically complex cofactors or substrates are supplied by the microorganism and their enzymes are stereoselective. Finally, biotechnological processes allow flexible use of sustainable, locally available resources, as microorganisms can grow on simple substrates on tap in waste or (gaseous) side streams. Taken together, this way of working with nature is extremely promising. Biotechnology is thus a key enabling technology for the transition to a circular bioeconomy.
Our lab applies a unique integrated bioprocess development approach, where we combine strain engineering and process engineering to develop biobased production processes for a wide range of compounds, going from specialty to commodity chemicals. Currently, research at InBio.be focuses on 3 major research lines:
- the CyleUP research line, investigating Carbon Capture Utilisation and production on waste and side streams
- the GlycoActives research line, investigating the biosynthesis of specialty carbohydrates such as iminosugars
- the LipoActives research line, investigating the production of biosurfactants and active glycolipids.
Together with expert partners within our world wide network and using market demand as a driver for strategic decisions, we aim to advance the biobased economy. Key witnesses to the successful realisation of our ambitions are Inbio.be's spin-off companies Inbiose and AmphiStar. Inbiose was established in 2013 based on the research performed in the GlycoActives research line. It focuses on the production of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), wich are oligosaccharides naturally occurring in human breast milk, the golden standard for a new-born’s health. Amongst others, Inbiose strives to produce HMOs to allow their addition to infant formula, enriching the latter with the unique health beneficial properties of human breast milk. AmphiStar was founded in 2021 based on our research performed in the LipoActives research line. It aims to make biosurfactants mainstream. Biosurfactants are fully biobased alternatives for surfactants, which are of major importance in our daily life as they are applied in a multitude of industries, such as the cleaning sector, cosmetics, food, pharmaceutical and even the mining industry. AmphiStar uses a clean production technology, safe for people and for the environment, to replace petroleum-based surfactants with waste-based biosurfactants.
To conclude, at InBio.be, we put microbes at work to turn R&D in actual real-life innovation!
Outreach activities
Apart from bringing our research to industry, we find it equally important to bring our research to the public and broader scientific community. Therefore we engage in several outreach activities, where we try to explain our research in a more commonly understandable way. This way, we hope to raise public awareness of the importance of the shift towards a biobased and sustainable economy.
Some examples of outreach activities can be found below as well as on out LinkedIn or Posts page.
