The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability
Research for a
sustainable future
In order to live sustainable lives, we need to have the option to choose sustainable products that leave greener footprints on Earth than we currently have. We contribute by developing methods for large scale production of sustainable foods, sustainable bio-chemicals and natural products.
Today, plastic bags, toys, cancer drugs, fuel and food ingredients are manufactured from chemical materials based on oil or extracted from plants. But this way of manufacturing depletes natural resources and increases carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, the products should instead be produced using sustainable biotechnological processes. Achieving this requires a massive research effort in industrial biotechnology.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain) is an interdisciplinary research centre that develops new knowledge and technology to support the production of bio-chemicals using microbial production hosts called cell factories.
Recent progress in our ability to read and write genomic code, combined with advances in automation, analytics and data science, has opened up for the discovery of new solutions regarding sustainable production in biological systems. We utilize these advances for microbial cell factory design to foster sustainable lifestyles.