Microbiomes may have the potential to benefit the global food system, but tapping that potential requires coordinated research – which currently isn’t the case. The EU-funded MicrobiomeSupport project aims to change this by mapping the research landscape and highlighting the need to standardise data. In doing so, it is ensuring that microbiome research can support safe, healthy and sustainable food systems.
A better understanding of microbial communities could bring profound benefits to the agri-food sector. The EU-funded MASTER project has developed a wide range of microbiome products, foods, services and processes. These innovations are helping improve the quantity, quality, safety and sustainability of our food and farms.
Materials used in medical implants such as pacemakers and insulin pumps can be hazardous to the body. The EU-funded BISON project seeks an alternative in self-assembling peptide building blocks. These biological electronics offer citizens safer implants that could be powered by the body itself.
All too often, waste ends up in landfill or is incinerated. The EU-funded DAFIA project sought to address this by exploring ways of converting waste into ingredients to make high-end products. Recovering valuable compounds from waste streams is helping the EU transition away from fossil fuels, benefitting industry, the environment and citizens.
Europe is in the process of moving away from an economy based on fossil fuels. The EU-funded FALCON project has achieved a breakthrough with a range of bio-based compounds that turn waste plant matter into essential chemicals. This offers citizens a greener and more economically viable future.
Too much waste ends up in landfill, removing potentially reusable resources from the economy. To address this, the EU-funded VOLATILE project has developed a process for transforming biological waste which can then be used in a range of industries. This could deliver products with real added value for EU citizens, such as biofuel and bioplastics, as well as soap and Omega-3 oils.
European researchers have been building the Virtual Physiological Human (VPH), a full computer model of the body. Through this process, an EU-funded project focused on improving cardiovascular care, and several key results are now being implemented by industry. The ultimate aim of all this is to turn basic science into real medical practices that will benefit patients and improve care standards.
EU-funded researchers are using innovative genomic and microfluidic technologies to identify useful enzymes in nature which could reduce the need for toxic chemicals, save energy, and boost the overall sustainability of a range of industries, from agriculture to pharmaceuticals.
EU-funded researchers are employing the principles of control engineering to regulate the biochemical machinery inside cells, bringing the day ever closer when bacteria will be used to manufacture biological molecules on demand.
A single test strip - the first platform to couple a methanol fuel cell with a biosensor - could act as a self-powered, easy-to-use, disposable, and low-cost test for diseases such as cancer, say EU-funded researchers.
