C1net PARTNERING EVENT

23/06/2015 - 24/06/2015

What: Free participation, accommodation and meals for members of C1net

When: 23 – 24 June 2015

Where: The Hilton Hotel Nottingham, NG1 3PZ

C1NET-partnering-meeting-flyer-extended

Report

The elusive summer sun finally came out to welcome 46 delegates from all parts of the world to the University of Nottingham campus, for the C1net/Metals in Biology partnering event “Metabolism and Enzymology of C1 Organisms”.  The event was held in the well-appointed new School of Humanities building and the accommodation in halls of residence allowed delegates to revisit and reminisce about student days. The meeting mixed inspirational talks from academia and industry with pitching, networking and project building activities.  Special guest speakers included Stephen Ragsdale (University of Michigan), Rolf Thauer (Max Planck Institute), Volker Müller (Goethe-University), Tom Smith (Sheffield Hallam), and Frank Sargent (Dundee) and industry representatives from Calysta, Lanzatech, ZuvaSyntha and Ingenza.  By the end of two days of caffeine and creativity, with skilful catalysts Amy Tayler and Simon Baty of the KTN, there emerged 9 embryonic projects which we hope will develop into PoC applications for the £250K funding available this year.  Delegates gave good feedback for the event. They appreciated the high calibre of invited speakers, the mix of academia and industry, the pitching, and the ample opportunity to network.

“Thanks for the excellent and well organised event!” said Rahman Pattanathu TeeGene Biotech Ltd

Several applications were made for the five POC £50K awards, the results announced in October 2015 were :-

  • Professor Richard Dinsdale  (University of South Wales) “In-situ Multiphase Compartmentalised Substrate Shuttle Bioreactor for Protein and Platform Chemicals”
  • Professor Nigel Minton (The University of Nottingham) “Maximising reaction productivity through protein scaffolding with cohesion-dockerin domains”
  • Professor Frank Sargent  (University of Dundee) “A Synthetic Approach to bioconversion of carbon dioxide to formic acid”
  • Dr Klaus Winzer (The University of Nottingham) “Novel aerobic chassis for the conversion of mixed CO/CO2 feedstocks”
  • Professor Phillip Wright (University of  Sheffield) “Optimizing low cost C1/C2 compound production and fermentation from biomass solid waste”