GEBI
The Bioengineering Group, formerly Génie Biologique, (GEBI) led by Prof. Dr. Ir. Spiros N. Agathos and the Earth and Life Institute (ELI) at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), specialise in algae biotechnology, enzymatic catalysis and microbial environmental metagenomics:
The main goal of algae biotechnology research at GEBI is the production of high value secondary metabolites and bioenergy from algae. Several research projects related to algae biotechnology are currently running within GEBI:
FOTOBIOMAT: Within Fotobiomat GEBI focuses on tailoring the environmental cultivation conditions required to optimise the production of high value metabolites from microalgae. The research is being conducted on a microscale, in a High Throughput Screening Technical Platform that has been developed at GEBI, in order to facilitate the screening of many different environmental conditions as well as to understand the intracellular metabolic phenomena.
BIOVAMAT: Algal productivity and antioxidant production can be enhanced by using novel nanoporous materials to enable gas exchange in tubular photobioreactors.
BAMMBO: Light delivery is the primary bottleneck for high-density algal cultivation. This can be overcome by developing mixotrophic reactor systems.
BEMA: Algae absorb photons and take up CO2 through the process of photosynthesis, which drives their metabolism. Algal cell cultures can produce high-valued anti-oxidants, fatty acids and toxins. However, algal cultivation has many limitations which must be overcome to develop a cost-effective production platform.
The design, assessment and mathematical modelling of tailored bioreactors for the enzymatic treatment of pollutants is the major task of the enzymatic catalysis group in GEBI.
Final the microbial environmental metagenomics group within GEBI focus on the development and application of metagenomic tools for the assessment of microbial adaptation to contaminant stress.