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Bioengineering laboratory acquired a liquid handling robot
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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

        


              
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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

        


              
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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

        


              
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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

        


              
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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

        


              
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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

        


              
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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.


                  

        

        

                    

    



	

	
	
	
				

			

		

	


	

		

			

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