NSF welcomes 14th member to Center for Biorenewable Chemicals

October 14, 2010

BY Bryan Sims

Texas-based Glycos Biotechnologies Inc. became the 14th member of the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC). The company followed the likes of other biochemical and advanced biofuel developers who signed on with the CBiRC such as Danisco, Royal DSM N.V., Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc., Genomatica Inc., Novozymes, POET and Solazyme Inc.


Launched in 2008, the CBiRC is funded by a five-year $18.5 million award from the NSF Engineering Research Center Program. The CBiRC’s bases its engineering platform on three interconnected segments, including biocatalysis and microbrial engineering, chemical catalysis, and life cycle analysis and testbeds. The CBiRC’s biocatalysis efforts focus on the fatty acid or polyketide biosynthesis pathways with the aim of enhancing microbial production through targeted engineering.


“GlycosBio chose to join the CBiRC because the Engineering Research Center’s vision and goals are in direct alignment with why we founded GlycosBio, to find a better way to make biochemicals,” said Paul Campbell, chief science officer for GlycosBio. “We believe that by supporting the CBiRC’s efforts, we can reach sustainability within the chemical industry and we are excited to be part of this organization.”

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Depending on the size of the company, a fee ranging from $1,000 to $50,000 is required to become a member of the CBiRC. Among the benefits biochemical companies like GlycosBio can expect when becoming a member of the CBiRC, according to director Brent Shanks, are exclusive access to research that goes on in the CBiRC (before it ever gets published or patented), networking opportunities with industry experts and academia, and recruiting opportunities. “Another thing that companies have found useful is that it just sparks their imagination to see what’s going on in this space,” Shanks said.


The CBiRC is based at Iowa State University in partnership with Rice University, the University of California at Irvine, the University of Mexico, the University of Virginia and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Germany and the Technical University of Denmark also contribute expertise and provide international connections.

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