NWO-KIC funding for new route to sustainable biocatalysts

Researchers Marco Fraaije and Maximilian Fürst at the University of Groningen have been awarded an EUR 600,000 grant under the NWO Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) call ‘Biochemical Diversity’. Their project will develop new computational methods to discover previously unknown enzymes and make them usable for greener production processes in biotechnology, chemistry and medicine.

The project called ‘BIOGEM discovery of biocatalysts by structure-based genome mining’ is a consortium bringing together researchers from the University of Groningen (UG), Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and two biotechnology companies. The total project budget is EUR 880,000, of which EUR 600,000 is allocated to the Fraaije and Fürst groups at the Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology (GBB) research institute.

About the BIOGEM project

The project focuses on developing and exploiting new approaches to identify interesting enzymes by scanning genetic information in a targeted, structure-based way. By implementing machine-learning-based tools, the team aims to discover totally new enzyme activities that are still hidden in available genome sequences. This should enable a more complete exploration of the diversity of enzymes that exists in nature and reveal unexplored biological catalysts for sustainable innovations.

By combining academic expertise with industrial partners, the project seeks to unlock nature’s hidden biochemical diversity for greener and more sustainable technologies.

Contribution of the Groningen group

Within the BIOGEM consortium, the Fraaije and Fürst groups at GBB (UG) lead the development of the machine-learning and structure-based genome mining methods to discover new enzyme activities. Their work provides the computational and enzymology core that identifies promising biocatalysts in genomic data and guides their experimental validation and optimisation. Wageningen University & Research and the two industry partners contribute complementary expertise in enzyme production, bioprocessing and application development, ensuring that newly discovered enzymes can be translated into sustainable innovations.

About the NWO-KIC ‘Biochemical Diversity’ grant

The funding comes from the NWO Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) call ‘Biochemical Diversity’, an NWO programme that supports impact-driven, public–private research on societal challenges in the Netherlands. KIC projects must include co-funding from companies and aim to strengthen the Dutch knowledge economy by turning research results into innovations with societal and economic impact.

More information

• Seven grants awarded to explore natural biochemical diversity for more sustainable production processes (NWO)
• Profile page Prof. Marco Fraaije
• Profile page Dr. Maximilian Fürst