University news

The University of Glasgow has joined forces with 16 universities around the country as part of a new £10 million Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) that will boost the UK’s synthetic biology sector.

The Centre will help the UK’s ability to translate the emerging field of synthetic biology into application and provide a bridge between academia and industry.

The IKC, to be called SynbiCITE, will be based at Imperial College London and led by Professor Richard Kitney. Its main aim will be to act as an Industrial Translation Engine that can integrate university and industry based research in synthetic biology into industrial process and products.

SynbiCITE is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research (BBSRC) and Technology Strategy Board.  It will receive initial grant funding of £5 million, with a further £5 million to be awarded over the next two years.

The Centre will be a national resource and involve researchers from 17 universities and academic institutions across the UK, as well as 13 industrial partners, including the research arms of Microsoft, Shell and GlaxoSmithKline.

Announcing the funding at the SB6.0 Conference David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, said: “Synthetic biology has huge potential for our economy and society in so many areas, from life sciences to agriculture. But to realise this potential we need to ensure researchers and business work together. This new Innovation and Knowledge Centre will help advance scientific knowledge and turn cutting edge research into commercial success.”

Many researchers, policy makers and governments are anticipating that synthetic biology will provide a range of benefits to society in sectors such as human health; agriculture and food production; environmental protection and remediation; bioenergy and chemical production.

It has been identified by David Willetts as one of the Eight Great Technologies that the UK needs to prioritise and the 2012 Autumn Statement announced significant investment in the field. Establishing the IKC was one of the recommendations of the UK Roadmap for Synthetic Biology, published in July 2012.

Professor Susan Rosser, of the Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Glasgow, said: “This is an exciting development bringing together the UK’s top scientists and institutions working in Synthetic Biology in partnership with a diverse range of industrial collaborators. It will aid the rapid translation of research into products which will have a positive impact on our lives and benefit the economy.” 

Professor David Delpy, EPSRC’s Chief Executive, said “Synthetic Biology is an EPSRC priority area. This new Innovation and Knowledge Centre, the seventh we have co-funded, will link universities to industries and accelerate the transition of discoveries from the laboratory to the factory.”

SynbiCITE is the seventh IKC with the aim of commercialising emerging technologies through creating early stage critical mass in an area of disruptive technology. IKCs are able to achieve this through their international quality research capability and access to companion technologies needed to commercialise research.  Based in a university they are led by an expert entrepreneurial team. While continuing to advance the research agenda, they create impact by enhancing wealth generation of the businesses with which they work.

Professor Richard Kitney, co-academic of SynbiCITE from the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial, says: “Synthetic Biology could be the next ‘industrial revolution’ for the UK, where tiny devices manufactured from cells are used by us to improve many facets of our lives. From producing new, more sustainable fuels to developing devices that can monitor or improve our health, the applications in this field are limitless.” 

 

Further information

• Glasgow Synthetic Biology Centre
• Core synthetic biology staff

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For more information contact Stuart Forsyth in the University of Glasgow Media Relations Office on 0141 330 4831 or email stuart.forsyth@glasgow.ac.uk or the ESPRC Press Office on 01793 444 404 or pressoffice@epsrc.ac.uk

Notes to Editors

The full list of SynbiCITE partners is: Bangor University, University of Birmingham, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, University of Edinburgh, University of Exeter, University of Glasgow, Imperial College London, Newcastle University, University of Oxford, Queen’s University, Belfast; King's College London, University of Sheffield, Swansea University, University College London, University of Warwick; with Agilent Technologies UK Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline R&D Ltd, Hockley International, Lisk and Jones Consultants Ltd, Microsoft Research Ltd, New Food Innovation, Oil Plus Ltd, Oxitec Ltd, Pulse Medical Ltd, Royal College of Art, Shell Global Solutions UK, Suterra, Syngenta Ltd, Visbion Ltd

Links:

• SB6.0 Conference
• Eight Great Technologies
• UK Roadmap for Synthetic Biology, published in July 2012

First published: 11 July 2013