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Projects Archives - Bioengineering@TalTech

Category: Projects

Projects
Scientists searching for genes in Kohtla-Järve

In 1989 a fire broke out in oil shale mine in Kohtla Järve, Estonia and it took 48 days to extinguish. The burning oil shale released toxic phenolic compounds, threatening groundwater and consequently groundwater water bodies, including one of the major lakes, Lake Peipus, the 5th largest lake in Europe. For preventing a potential nature catastrophe, as Pseudomonas was already known to degrade phenolic compounds, an engineered Pseudomonas putida was released in the affected area as a measure of bioremediation. This event represents one of the first recorded deliberate release of a recombinant microbe into an ecosystem. Six years later, in 1995, the same gene sequence was found in native Pseudomonas, suggesting possible horizontal gene transfer.

To search for these genes, the scientist from MIT Voigt Lab traveled to Kohtla-Järve, Estonia to collect samples from the release site. This was already their second visit following the first one in Septemper 2023 when they extracted DNA from 68 soil and water samples collected around the release site. Alina Rekena, PhD student in Bioengineering is part of the project and helping with sample taking as well as analysis. The aim is to perform a metagenomic analysis to gain key insights into the implications of introducing engineered organisms into natural ecosystems.

Read more about this topic: Acquisition of a deliberately introduced phenol degradation operon, pheBA, by different indigenous Pseudomonas species | Applied and Environmental Microbiology
and Design and regulation of engineered bacteria for environmental release | Nature Microbiology

 

Projects
Myth busting workshop at Life Sciences Day

Bioengineering group held myth busting workshops during Life Sciences Day at Tallinn University of Technology

During the workshops the participants were introduced to different evolutionary and genetic techniques. They were shown how genetic engineering of microorganisms is conducted in the Bioengineering laboratory. Moreover, they participated in a video call to microorganisms under microscope, exploring the differences of wild and GM yeast.

The participants had also an opportunity to see the real life results of these techniques and try and see foods with exotic ingredients.

Life Sciences Day was aimed at high school students for introducing life sciences study programmes in Tallinn University of Technology.

Thank you Alīna Reķēna, Tommaso Tagliani, Kristjan Pals, Luísa Czamanski Nora and Kaisa Orgusaar for the contribution!

Projects
Petri-Jaan Lahtvee is the member of Research and Development Council

Petri-Jaan Lahtvee is a member of the new composition of the Research and Development Council (Teadus- Arendusnõukogu).

In April, the Research Council, chaired by Prime Minister Kristjan Michal, held its inaugural session. Among other renowned scientists and entrepreneurs is Petri-Jaan Lahtvee, Associate Professor of Bioengineering and co-founder of ÄIO.

The aim of the Research Council is to ensure that research developments reach companies swiftly, thereby helping to increase the productivity and added value of Estonian companies, improve export capacity and strengthen our position in the global market.

https://valitsus.ee/teadus-ja-arendusnoukogu-10 

Photo by Aivo Kallas

Projects
Baltic Biotech database is now published

Baltic biotech database is now published! The database has gathered more than 2700 data points from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It can be found from Bioconnect project website.

Whether you are looking for regional partners, relevant investors or a study programme, the database is a handy tool. It features information about:

  • Startups
  • Funding rounds
  • Industry players
  • VC-s and angel investors
  • Grants
  • Research institutes driving biotech discoveries
  • Academia and study programmes and
  • Hubs and facilitators, fostering growth and collaboration
Projects
Bioengineering laboratory acquired a liquid handling robot

This year Christmas came early and Bioengineering laboratory received its long awaited liquid handling robot. The team underwent a basic training how to create simple protocols and was made familiar with the robot´s multiple modules.

“We are very excited to have liquid handling robot in our laboratory and are hoping to keep it very busy”, said Juliano Sabedotti de Biaggi, the Head of Lab Automation.

The new robot enables automated pipetting and working in sterile conditions and is a wonderful addition for routine time consuming liquid handling operations.

The robot was bought as a part of biofoundry under establishment thanks to the DigiBio project of the European Horizon sub-program Widening for Excellence, within the framework of which 15 million euros are allocated from the European Commission and 15 million euros from the state budget of Estonia.

Projects
Researching yeasts in simulated microgravity with Litegrav

TalTech Bioengineering team and Litegrav started a collaboration project to investigate growth of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in simulated microgravity. The aim of the project is to expose yeast cells to different stimuli and stressors, such as microgravity and radiation that would affect microbes in space. In addition to application in space technologies, a purpose is also to find out whether the conditions relate to an industrial process on Earthly conditions. Until today, most of the research has been conducted on mammalian cells but now is time to look into microorganisms as well. This is a follow-up project to a previous one which researched strain optimization and screening in microgravity and radiation in both liquid and solid cultures. Let´s wish a successful collaboration for Patrik Hollos (Litegrav), Srdjan Gavrilovic, Lev Aleksandr Kolesnikov and Petri-Jaan Lahtvee (TalTech) working on the project.

 

 

Projects
Student thesis in BioEng lab

Recently, four 11th grade students of Tallinna 32. Keskkool have been seen working in the bioengineering laboratory. The aspiring girls Grete-Liis Tammaru, Maia Tžikanov, Luisa Aleksejev ja Mari-Ann Rõuk decided to start a student company as part of their 11th grade research project and solve a problem that occurs in everyday life. Their student company PopZip is developing 3D printed reusable lids for resealing aluminum beverage cans. The girls described that the idea was born out of a personal need, because it is not always possible to drink the entire drink at once. However, the lid created by the girls makes it possible to close the can again and put it in a bag if necessary.
The girls reached the Bioengineering research group when they turned to Tallinn University of Technology to get advice on using suitable materials. From there, they were put in contact with Kerit-Lii Joasoon, a master’s student working under senior researcher Rahul Kumar in the Bioengineering research group and Tommaso Tagliani, who have been helping PopZip with the prototype. In cooperation, a prototype has been developed and different materials have been tested. Silicone was chosen as the material for the product, since is suitable for contact with food as it is inert and has good properties for 3D printing as well as elasticity, water resistance and durability.

GeneralProjects
Growth profiler offers opportunites for high throughput microbial screening

As a part of biofoundry under establishment, bioengineering lab received its very own growth profiler. The state-of-the-art machine allows high throughput screening of microbial strains and growth media on µL scale. The Head of Automation Juliano Sabedotti de Biaggi described that the growth profiler can fit up to ten autoclavable 96-well microtiter plates, allowing monitoring 960 conditions at once. “However, usually the tests are conducted in triplicates which means monitoring of 320 strains or growth medias in parallel. The advantage of the microplates are that they can be covered with a lid, allowing control of gas exchange and evaporation. The machine is complemented with a camera which performs online optical density measurements, therefore obsoleting the need to measure each sample individually and manually.” With as many as 960 samples we are relieved to have this automated function!

The machine is a valuable asset for bioengineering laboratory as it offers the possibility of broader screening of microbial strains. Therefore microbial strains with different mutations can be screened at once, broadening the possibility to find the ones with best characteristics.

The growth profiler was sourced under DigiBio joint project with TalTech, University of Tartu and Danish Technical University, which received 15 million € from European Union and 15 million € from Estonian government.

Projects
Bioengineering and Fibenol joint project was nomi-nated for Tallinn Entrepreneurial Awards

Joint collaboration project between Bioengineering group and Fibenol “Biotechnological processing of wood and food waste into feed and food supplements”  was one among the three nominees at Tallinn´s entrepreneurial awards. During the project wood industry residues, such as pre-processed sawdust was converted into healthy feed and food additives.

The project was funded from Environmental Investment Service.

Thank you for the recognition!

 

 

Projects
Pilot up-scale cultivations

In the course of the PERFECOAT project, Nemailla Bonturi and Petri Lahtvee visited Technical University of Munich (TUM, Straubing, Germany) to perform for the first time to our knowledge industrial scale (30L bioreactor) cultivations of R. toruloides in xylose-rich hydrolysate (Fibenol, Estonia).

Slide Anja Schmid (TUM), Torben Hüsing (TUM),
Petri-Jaan Lahtvee (Taltech),
and Nemailla Bonturi (Taltech)
Slide Redish frozen pellet of R. toruloides
biomass containing high content of carotenoids.
Slide Coating material produced
using R. toruloides biomass
as binders.

        
Projects
New collaboration supported by Yeast4Bio

In autumn 2021, Alina Rekena from our group was visiting Heinemann Lab from Molecular Systems Biology research group led by Prof. Dr. Matthias Heinemann at University of Groningen, the Netherlands, to work on the development of thermodynamics-based computational models for non-conventional yeasts. The visit was supported by Yeast4Bio Short Term Scientific Mission program. Alina learned how to develop computational models integrated with biochemical thermodynamics, including Gibbs energy balance, and worked on a core metabolic model of Rhodotorula toruloides. The productive collaboration with Heinemann Lab will enhance the competences in systems biology of our group, help to study metabolic properties of non-conventional yeasts and to use computational tools to design efficient yeast-based cell factories, which is the topic of Alina’s PhD studies.

EventProjects
Estonian Bioeconomy conference

Collaboration project between TalTech, University of Tartu and Life-science University together with three Estonian ministries  – ADDVAL-BIOEC – Added value in Estonian bioeconomy – with a strong contribution also from our Bioengineering group is finishing. The collected research will be presented at the conference on October 26th, 2021, at Erinevate Tubade Klubi, Telliskivi 60-A1, Tallinn (event language is Estonian).

 

More information: www.taltech.ee/biomajandus

Register to the event: https://forms.gle/hiUc9MCBefLsPePi8

Projects
Yeast4Bio Training School

On September 13-17h happened the first Yeast4Bio Training School financed by the COST agency and  coordinated by Jose L. Martinez (Associate Professor and Head of Fermentation core in the Technical University of Denmark). Our group member, Gintarė Liudžiūtė learned there fundamental knowledge of fermentation design and analysis applied to non-conventional yeasts which are used as cell factories for high-value compounds production. Attending to the first Yeast4Bio Training School was a significant personal and professional opportunity to develop scientific competences into our group.

EventProjects
Yeast4Bio COST Action meeting in A Coruna, Spain

It was a great pleasure to visit the COST Action Yeast4Bio bi-annual conference in A Coruna, Spain and chair a session on non-conventional yeast Systems and Synthetic Biology together with Prof. Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro.

Two days full of exciting scientific discussions!!! Thank you to all the speakers and participants for creating such a nice environment and Prof. Christian Kennes @UDC_gal for organising it. #bioeconomy #nonconventionalyeast #bioproducts

More info on Yeast4bio: https://yeast4bio.eu/
Projects
3D printing project

Tobias Butelmann, a former member (2018-2019) of Petris’ group will be visiting us next August. The collaboration entitled Local Electron Delivery in Bioinks for Efficient Yeast Cell Factories will provide valuable knowledge and inputs for 3D printing project. This project of the Baltic-German University Liaison Office is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic Germany.

 

Projects
New projects started – Perfecoat and SAFE

We are excited to announce the start of two interdisciplinary international projects PERFECOAT – High performance bio-based Functional coatings for wood and decorative applications – with funding from Horizon2002 Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking; and SAFE – Sustainable Aquaculture Feed Based on Novel Biomass from Wood By-products, funded by NordForsk.