Dyadic International, Inc. (Jupiter, Fla.; www.dyadic.com), a global biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of enzymes and other proteins for the industrial enzyme, bioenergy, and biopharmaceutical industries, has announced that its research and development center in the Netherlands is a member of the Bio-Mimetic Project, a new multidisciplinary research consortium that has been awarded a 3.5-million-euro grant from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities. The European consortium is commencing a three-year research project entitled, “New Bio-Inspired Processes and Products from Renewable Feedstock” which will employ environmentally friendly technologies to convert the renewable agricultural waste stream, lignin, into high-value, sustainable commercial products, such as adhesives, detergents and cosmetics.
Wim van der Wilden, the general manager of Dyadic Netherlands (Wageningen, The Netherlands), stated, “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with such fine organizations on a highly innovative project where we can demonstrate the efficacy and productivity of our C1 technology to use green chemistry to find commercial applications for lignin. If successful, this project will be a promising step forward in using this renewable waste stream to replace traditional toxic, expensive and high energy consuming processes.”
As part of the Bio-Mimetic Project, Dyadic Netherlands will receive approximately 400,000 euros to develop enzymes using Dyadic’s patented and proprietary, C1 platform technology to degrade and modify lignin so that it can be used to create these high-value commercial products. Procter & Gamble Technical Centres Ltd. (P&G U.K.) will serve as the coordinator of the Bio-Mimetic Project Consortium which, in addition to Dyadic Netherlands, consists of the following participants:
- Compagnie Industrielle de la Matiere Vegetale (CIMV)(France)
- Fraunhofer Institute IFAM (Germany)
- The University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italy)
- MAVI Sud s.r.l. (Italy)
- Gulgi B.V. (The Netherlands)
- Procter & Gamble Eurocor N.V. (P&G Brussels Innovation Centre)(Belgium)
- CiaoTech s.r.l (Italy)
- The University of Manchester (U.K.)