Five teams competed in this year’s final: BioSurfers (AgroParisTech France, 1st place), CharBuild (University of Ghent, Belgium, 2nd place), Evapotricity (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, 3rd place), B-CharGen (Technical University Riga, Latvia) and Biomeiler (University of Utrecht, the Netherlands).
International
Team BioSurfers, although competing on behalf of France, is a truly international team with students from six different countries and backgrounds: Luisa Tellez from Colombia is a biochemical engineer. Carla Mendiola from the Philippines studied chemical engineering. Sajjad Malekzadeh from Iran is also a chemical engineer. Raffi Shakhmuradian from Armenia studied biochemistry, biotechnology and microbiology. Rangsimatiti Saichompoo (nicknamed Kat) is from Thailand and Italy, and studied general biological sciences. Erick Insuasti from Ecuador studied biomedical engineering.
They met at URCA in Reims and AgroParisTech in Paris, France, during the first and second semesters of the Erasmus Mundus Master’s programme ‘Biological and Chemical Engineering for a Sustainable Bio-Economy’, BIOCEB for short. This master is set up by a consortium of five European universities. ‘Every semester we are at a different university, depending on the specialisation you choose,’ says Carla. As a result, now in its third semester, the group has now split again. Carla, Luisa, Sajjad and Raffi are following following the bioprocesses track at the University of Liège in Belgium. Kat and Erick are following the biomaterials track at Aalto University in Finland.
This does not pose any communication problems, according to Luisa: ‘We are working somewhat further apart now than in the first year, but our team roles are much more clearly defined. The four of us focus on the technical, economic and business part of the process. Kat and Erick focus more on the creative aspects, such as marketing, design, but also laws and regulations.’
Biosurfactant
The idea to work on lichenysin was prompted by their study, which involved working on the production of lipopeptides. Lichenysin is a specific biosurfactant produced from agro-industrial side streams. Raffi: ‘Surfactants such as soaps, moisturisers and cosmetics are widely used in everyday life. They are often of fossil origin, which raises issues of biodegradability and toxicity. Therefore, we wanted to look for an alternative from a bio-based environment. We produce them with micro-organisms, which makes them more environmentally friendly in many ways.’
Luisa: ‘We found lichenysin particularly interesting because of its efficiency and anti-microbial properties. These make it suitable for a wide range of applications. However, it is not produced on an industrial scale yet. We wanted to take forward the idea of optimising the production of this molecule.’
Safety
Normally, lichenysin is produced via fermentation of the Bacillus licheniformis bacterium. This bacterium requires an oxygen-rich environment. As a result, the surfactant (similar to detergents) creates foam. This complicates process control and downstream processing. The addition of anti-foaming agents is undesirable as it affects the properties of the product.
Team BioSurfers therefore chose to use a modified bacterial strain, developed within the University of Liège, so that fermentation can take place under anaerobic conditions. However, the EU has regulated the use of GMOs, especially in food production. Raffi: ‘Based on French regulations, we went through certain processes to prove that the strain is safe. For industrial scale, a stricter process is needed to show that the product complies with EU regulations.’
‘The molecule is separated from the bacterial biomass during the purification process. As a result, our final product contains no DNA or bacterial residues,’ Luisa adds. This is all the more important because lichenysin is also useful as a biostimulant in agriculture. Raffi: ‘It can be used as a kind of “vaccine” for plants. It strengthens their immune system so they can fight pathogenic microbes better. A biostimulant can therefore partially or completely replace pesticides. These are often harmful to human and animal health. Lichenysin is not harmful: even if you were to ingest it in low concentrations, it is completely safe.’
Scaling up
What is the current status of the project? Is market readiness already in sight? Luisa: ‘We are still experimenting on a laboratory scale. We will have to further optimise and scale up the process first. Although the process efficiency is already promising, the price is still too high for the market.’
Carla: ‘According to our techno-economic analysis, the cost price of lichenysine is especially too high compared to petrochemical-based surfactants. Compared to other biosurfactants, our production method can be up to four times cheaper.’
In terms of sustainability, however, lichenysin is superior thanks to its high efficiency and the use of renewable raw materials. For instance, agricultural residues can serve as a carbon source to feed the micro-organisms. The lichenysin itself is fully biodegradable. And the by-products of fermentation can be used to produce biogas. As such, it fits perfectly into a circular economy.
Kickstart
Kees de Gooijer (creator of BISC-E) and Rob Beekers (Chair of the BIC board) presented the winners of the BISC-E competition with a cheque for €5,000 and a year’s free Full Industry Membership of BIC at the BIC Industry Members’ Networking Event held in Brussels this October. The prizes could kickstart the creation of a new company. Sajjad: ‘That would certainly be very interesting, but it’s not just up to us because to decide, because the intellectual property also belongs to the university.’
In any case, the students are extra motivated to pursue their careers in biotechnology or microbiology. Erick: ‘It was a great experience. Not only because of the technical knowledge we gained, but also because of the skills, such as working with people from different backgrounds. I learned a lot from them.’
‘The direct contacts with people from the bio-based industries were especially enriching,’ says Luisa. ‘We could discuss different topics with people who are really in the industry and see how these transitions are taking place.’ Carla agrees: ‘When studying, you don’t really see the application or how things work in the real world. When you meet people who are actually in the industry, you get a completely different perspective. You might even be able to imagine yourself in their position.’
‘Challenge yourself’
Do the members of Team BioSurfers have any tips or words of encouragement for students considering entering the 2025 BISC-E competition? Sajjad: ‘You should definitely participate. Challenge yourself, because you will learn a huge amount. It makes you think outside the lab or workshop and consider what is important to consumers, the market and the companies you might be working with. For bio-based products, we really need that, because many consumers are concerned about the safety and sustainability of the products they use.’
‘It’s great to see so many people from teams from other countries working on biobased solutions,’ says Kat. Luisa adds: ‘Participating in BISC-E gives you the chance to practice not only technical skills, but also to develop soft skills, such as the ability to present your business model, have a global perspective on the whole project and convince other people that this is a promising solution. It has given us many tools to shape ourselves into more holistic and multidisciplinary professionals.’
Entrepreneurship
With the annual BISC-E competition, BIC contributes to promoting entrepreneurship in education by challenging students to propose ground-breaking biobased innovations to solve environmental, social or economic problems. National preliminary rounds take place in several European countries. National winners compete in a first round where a jury of academic experts selects the top five. The five finalists presented themselves to the jury of industry experts and took part in Q&A sessions. There will also be a new BISC-E competition in 2025. Check the website for more information.
Videos of all five finalists and a recorded livestream of the final round can be viewed on the BIC YouTube channel.
This article was produced in collaboration with the Bio-based Industries Consortium
