News

EBIC’s Seed Corn Fund, made possible by a funding injection from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will accelerate the commercialisation of new engineering biology ventures and bridge the gap between research and market-ready products and technologies, with comprehensive support and resources for researchers.

The new funding will help move technologies from early-stage development (TRL 2-3) through prototyping and scale-up (TRL 5-6), with a strong focus on business model development and commercialisation strategy.

Round 3 is now open for applications, with the application deadline of Friday 19th September, EOD. So apply today!

This is the 12th year of celebrating International Women in Engineering Day (#INWED25), brought about by Women’s Engineering Society. This year the theme is #TogetherWeEngineer with a focus on giving women engineers a spotlight and raising their profiles.

We wanted to take this opportunity to introduce a few of the women engineers we have working to advance the field of environmental biotechnology here at EBIC.

Click the link below to read our Q&A’s with our engineers on their work and advice for women considering a career in engineering!

We were delighted to host such a successful one-day workshop at Cranfield bringing together researchers, early-career scientists, and industry stakeholders to share the latest advances in PFAS detection, degradation, and biotechnological solutions.

The event, supported by the Environmental Biotechnoly Network (EBNet) and the Environmental Biotechnology Innovation Centre (EBIC), highlighted interdisciplinary approaches spanning synthetic biology, enzymatic degradation, microbial defluorination, and sensor technologies. Discussions also addressed the technical and translational challenges of scaling these innovations from lab to field.

Lively engagement throughout the day highlighted the urgency and momentum in this space with particular recognition for outstanding early-career contributions and thought-provoking dialogue on the future of environmental biotechnology in PFAS remediation. – Tao Lyu, Senior Lecturer in Green Technologies, Cranfield University and EBIC Theme 2 co-lead.

If you were unable to attend the workshop, we are very pleased to now be able to share with you recordings from the day, take a look below!

Are you fascinated by the world of engineering biology? Eager to discover how EBIC is leveraging this innovative field to enhance our environment? Tune in to our quarterly podcast, where we share exciting insights and host inspiring guests from the world of engineering biology and beyond.

Episode one features Professor Ronan McCarthy & Lyuboslava Harkova, both of Brunel University London, to discuss their fascinating work utilising biofilms and bacteria to breakdown plastic – just in time for this years #worldenvironmentday which for 2025 focuses on ending plastic pollution globally – watch now to see how EBIC are doing our part!

We were delighted to be invited by UKRI to participate in their first, in a series of 6, webinar – Engineering Biology Mission Hubs Showcase. The webinar was a great opportunity to discuss how EBIC are utilising engineering biology to create a sustainable environment – from bioremediation, to biosensors and waste & wastewater management, as well as our public engagement and management strategy.

This report focuses on the governance of engineering biology and helps to highlight the innovation and potential in the field, including a new bio-economy. The report makes 6 key recommendations to the government, including governing engineering biology products by their properties, not the originating technologies and encouraging a formal commitment to responsible innovation.

Are you a UK-based Early Career Researcher (ECR) working in Engineering Biology and Environmental Biotechnology? Join us at EBIC ECR25 on 8-9 July 2025 at Edinburgh!

Offering a valuable platform to contextualize your research, engage in discussions, improve your communication skills, and connect with like-minded professionals. Our first ECR conference on Engineering Biology for Environmental Sustainability will explore all facets of Engineering Biology and Environmental Biotechnology, so you’re sure to discover something new from our cross-disciplinary community. And if you’re just starting your PhD or don’t have results to share yet, our poster session is the perfect opportunity to showcase your proposed research.

Here at EBIC we are delighted that our own Professor Ronan McCarthy’s work has been included in Nature’s seventh annual round-up of exciting innovations to watch in 2025.

Ronan, and his team at Brunel, are utilising microbes in the bioremediation of plastics. They are coaxing plastic-degrading bacteria to form dense biofilms on the surface of plastic fragments, allowing the bacteria to secrete enzymes onto the target plastics, without being washed away. An incredible, and much needed, innovation in the fight against microplastic pollution. Bioremediation continues to demonstrate its potential to transform sustainability efforts.

Click below to learn more on Ronan & EBIC’s work, as well as see the other exciting innovations which made this years list!

Prof. Coulon explores the use of synthetic biology to remove pollutants more efficiently & sustainably, whilst also delving into both challenges to adoption and the importance of biosecurity.

The article also explores our work here at EBIC: establishing the necessary testing and biosecurity frameworks to enable the deployment of pollution-targeting microbes within the national water and wastewater systems, as well as establishing a ‘closed loop’ system for testing at a larger scale in a real-world environment.

Click the link below to read the full article.

The project is intended to review current Scottish engineering biology expertise and collaborations and provide recommendations to highlight the future opportunities.

The project will also seek to set out the actions that should be progressed in order to position Scotland to maximise the emerging economic opportunities, including setting out where the respective ownership of relevant actions best sit.

For more information on this project click the link below.

We here at EBIC are very excited to announce the launch of our newsletter! Our quarterly newsletter is packed with exciting updates on our work, SynBio & Engineering Biology related news-stories, events and much more! You can sign up to join our mailing list from the link below.

In 2023 the UK Government formed the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), with a mission to make the UK a science superpower. Engineering Biology is one of the critical technologies proposed to make this aim a reality.

As part of this mission the National Vision for Engineering Biology was created. Within this Vision the DSIT committed to developing robust insights into public attitudes towards engineering biology, and thus commissioned Deltapoll to conduct a survey on public perceptions of engineering biology.

The fascinating results of this survey are now in, so click below to learn more.

Building on a productive two decades of advancements in synthetic biology, engineering biology now promises to enable the implementation and scale-up of novel biological systems tailored to tackle urgent global challenges. Here we explore the latest engineering biology approaches for the control and modification of bacterial biofilms with exciting new functionalities.

Thanks to advancements in DNA synthesis, editing, and sequencing and developments in AI, biological systems can now be engineered with greater speed and accuracy and with significantly reduced time and costs.

The latest report from the Capgemini Research Institute, Unlocking the potential of engineering biology: The time is now, looks at how engineering biology can be applied in different sectors and how it has the power to transform industries. It also examines biosolutions from a sustainability perspective.

EBIC are incredibly proud to have recruited a fantastic team of early career researchers (ECR), with a breadth of experience and an expansive skill set.

We would like to introduce you to our first ECR Rep – Dr Prabhakar Lal Srivastava. Prabhakar is a Research Fellow at the School of Environmental & Natural Sciences at Bangor University. Within EBIC Prabhakar’s role focuses on Theme 2: Environmental bioremediation and Theme 3: Wastewater & waste management.

“This is a must read….it opens the doorway to the hidden world of microbes and the incredible ‘things’ they produce, such as everyday products like detergents (aka biosurfactants). The unseen world of microbes and how they can be harnessed to do incredible things, is captivating, thrilling and entertaining.” Prof. Tony Gutierrez, Professor in Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, Heriot-Watt University.