Description

The aim of this seminar is to review from a global perspective what are the main environmental challenges and problems that we have to face today and how they can be addressed through research using biotechnological tools. We will revise some examples of what we are currently doing in our lab mainly focused on implementing sustainable industrial solutions by applying systems metabolic engineering approaches using different bacteria and yeast as cell factories. These examples include green biotransformation processes to obtain compounds of pharmaceutical interest (e.g. steroids, polyketides), CO₂ capture through biological processes (e.g., one step or two step processes), the production of microbial oils from lignocellulosic waste (e.g., xylulose utilization by oleaginous organisms), the production of building blocks to synthesizing bio-based polymers (e.g., butanediol), the production of biopolymers through fermentation (e.g., PHA), culture of microalgae for the production of compounds of industrial interest (e.g., sucrose), the production of bio-oil through HTL technologies, the use of xerotolerant microorganisms (e.g., Exiguobacterium) and decontamination of waste water with high contents of endocrine disruptors and developing biosensors (e.g., Caenibius tardaugens).