EPSRC and BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Engineering Biology

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The Engineering Biology Centre for Doctoral Training (EngBioCDT) is one of nine new CDTs at the University of Bristol, which will equip and nurture engineering and science students, thanks to a nationally-leading £57 million funding boost from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and its Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Engineering biology is one of the five critical technologies predicted to deliver prosperity to the UK as highlighted in the Government’s National Vision for Engineering Biology (December 2023). Sitting at the confluence of Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, AI and Data Science, it has the potential to provide innovative solutions to global challenges for sustainable food, materials and chemicals, combatting climate change, and technologies for improved healthcare, by harnessing biology in new ways and creating biomimetic and engineered living systems capable of surpassing what is possible from single-discipline approaches.

The EngBioCDT, run jointly with the University of Oxford, will provide bespoke cohort-based training with a focus on how engineering biology concepts and technologies can be translated into products with real-world impact. It will include teaching on: modelling and control theory, artificial intelligence and machine learning, gene circuit design, protein design and engineering, and tissue engineering.

The EngBioCDT will train 68 students over five cohorts between 2024 and 2032 in collaboration with over 30 partners including industry, startups, innovation specialists, and national institutes.

 

The Director of the EngBioCDT, Dr Lucia Marucci, said: “I am so excited to start directing our new Engineering Biology Centre for Doctoral Training in partnership with the University of Oxford, and cannot wait to welcome our new students in September. Many thanks to the EPSRC and BBSRC for funding our programme.”

At Bristol, the CDT will be managed also by Prof Imre Berger, Dr Tom Gorochowski (Deputy Director), Prof Jen McManus and Prof Dek Woolfson.

ADDovenom: Pioneering new snakebite treatment

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A five-minute video about the ADDovenom project has been released. The film includes interviews with Profs Christiane Schaffitzel (University of Bristol) and Nick Casewell (LSTM), who highlight the numbers killed and injured by snake bites every year, and the drawbacks of current antivenom treatments. They explain how the goal of ADDovenom is to create a more effective, accessible, and cheaper therapeutic.

UKRI highlights BBI work on COVID-19 in article on structural biology research

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The UKRI has published an article celebrating the history of BBSRC-supported impact in structural biology, which mentions the research on the SARS-CoV-2 virus by BBI researchers Profs Christiane Berger-Schaffitzel and Imre Berger.

The article (Advances in structural biology research) says:

Professors Christiane Berger-Schaffitzel and Imre Berger at the University of Bristol were pooling their teams’ expertise to study how membrane proteins fold.

Their work was supported by BBSRC responsive mode and ALERT research equipment funding, the Wellcome Trust, and BrisSynBio, one of six synthetic biology centres in the UK. BrisSynBio was funded by BBSRC and EPSRC, and Professor Imre Berger is the director of the centre.

When the pandemic started, they pivoted to COVID-19 as part of University of Bristol’s UNCOVER, a COVID-19 emergency research group led by Professor Adam Finn from Bristol Medical School (PHS).

Using cryogenic electron microscopy, where researchers freeze samples and fire electrons to image proteins, they determined the 3D structure of SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein. They discovered a pocket in the spike protein that they showed contained linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid with key roles in regulating the immune response.

Collaborating with virologist Professor Andrew Davidson and his team, they found that binding linoleic acid to the spike blocked the virus from infecting and replicating, acting as an antiviral. Two medical doctors in the US began using linoleic acid as an emergency COVID-19 treatment. Work is ongoing to develop this technology and establish full regulatory approval for this therapy in the UK.

To achieve approval and bring the drug to patients, University of Bristol spin-out Halo Therapeutics Ltd was founded by Dr Daniel Fitzgerald (CEO), Professor Christiane Berger-Schaffitzel (Chief Technology Officer) and Professor Imre Berger (Chief Strategy Officer).

Halo is developing structure-based drugs to target unmet needs around disease treatment. The spin-out is leading the application for clinical trials for the fatty acid antiviral drug on patients.

If successful, the drug could be used to treat early infections or for those who have been in contact with an infected individual to prevent infection and transmission.

Halo is also not stopping at COVID-19, turning its attention to other respiratory infections and potential obesity treatments based on fatty acid metabolism, too.

Vaccine Hub team hold annual meeting

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The Future Vaccines Manufacturing Research Hub has held its Annual Meeting at Imperial College London, with BBI Co-Director Prof Imre Berger leading the team from University of Bristol. This was a follow up to the launch event in Bristol in November 2023.

Imre says: “These were fantastic days of great science, inspiring talks, and dynamic discussions. Exciting new ideas and projects are emerging from our partnerships with colleagues in the UK and Vietnam, especially with our long-standing collaborators from Vabiotech in Hanoi. Great science, great partnerships – looking forward to working together to bring the best vaccines and production tools to Vietnam!”

Further info about this partnership is available here.

Vacancy: Four-year post-doctoral research position in protein design

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*Applications are now closed*

A post-doctoral position is available to develop new peptides and proteins to manipulate, target and probe the mechanisms that underpin intracellular transport by microtubule motors. This BBSRC-funded post, available for four years, is based in the protein design lab of Prof Dek Woolfson (Chemistry and Biochemistry), and in collaboration with Prof Mark Dodding’s molecular cell biology lab (Biochemistry) at University of Bristol. The appointed post-doc would design de novo peptides and proteins using a combination of rational design and computational design and protein biochemistry. They are aiming to recruit a protein designer keen to apply their skills in cells to endogenous proteins in complex biological systems or a person with a background in intracellular transport keen to develop cutting edge skills in protein design.

Enquiries to: d.n.woolfson@bristol.ac.uk or mark.dodding@bristol.ac.uk

Dr Kathleen Sedgley: engineering biology and the importance of Scientific Managers

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Dr Kathleen SedgleyDr Kathleen Sedgley, the BBI’s Scientific Manager, has recorded a short video talking about her career for the UKRI’s Engineering Biology showcase. The showcase highlights some of the outcomes of the UKRI’s £800m of investment in this field since 2007.

You can read more about Kathleen and watch the video here.

PhD Studentships available with SWBio DTP

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*Applications are now closed*

The South West Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (SWBio DTP) has launched its latest round of PhD projects, which will begin in September 2025.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 11 December 2024, and you can apply here.

The following fully-funded, four-year PhD studentships are available with BBI researchers at University of Bristol.

Other projects can be found here.

Synthetic and Engineering Biology: A joint opportunity for the UK and Switzerland

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Informed by roundtable discussions held at the Synthetic & Engineering Biology British-Swiss Summit, the Synthetic & Engineering Biology: A joint opportunity for the UK and Switzerland report, published in September 2024, delves into the most pressing challenges for advancing synthetic and engineering biology technologies addressing climate and environmental issues, and poses specific recommendations to governments, industry and the entire innovation ecosystem to act upon.

This webinar, which took place on 22 October 2024, saw Kerstin Kinkelin (Bristol BioDesign Institute), Maddie Cass (BIA), and Anike Te (Lucideon) discuss the report and its recommendations.

These findings are intended for a variety of stakeholders with the aim of moving forward joint Swiss and UK challenges in the field of synthetic and engineering biology, and – in light of the climate crisis – emphasising the urgent need to accelerate the commercialisation of these technologies.

The Summit was organised by the Bristol BioDesign Institute (University of Bristol), the Swiss Business Hub UK & Ireland, the BIA, and Lucideon.

Dek Woolfson to receive Vincent du Vigneaud Award

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Prof Dek Woolfson, Director of the Bristol BioDesign Institute, has been named as one of the two recipients of the 2025 Vincent du Vigneaud Award. These prestigious awards, given by the American Peptide Society (and sponsored by Bachem), recognize outstanding achievements in peptide research at mid-career.

Dek has been honoured alongside Prof Ashraf Brik (Technion-Israel Institute of Technology). The awards will be presented at the 29th American Peptide Symposium and 15th International Peptide Symposium in California (15-19 June 2025).

Vincent du Vigneaud was an American biochemist known for his work with sulfur compounds and peptides. He won the 1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the cyclic peptide, oxytocin.

BBI attends UKRI Engineering Biology Programme Convening Event

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Engineering Biology Mission Award Holders Professors Thomas Gorochowski and Christiane Berger-Schaffitzel, Aegis Professor of Engineering Biology Anike Te, and BBI Scientific Manager Kathleen Sedgley were attended the UKRI Technology Missions Fund (TMF) Engineering Biology Programme Convening Event in Cardiff on Thursday 3 October.

The two Mission Awards were both highlighted amongst the UKRI portfolio:

  • Haemotoxic and cytotoxic snake venom metalloproteinases – production, enzymatic specificity, snakebite treatment, and biomedical use (PI: Christiane Berger-Schaffitzel)
    The team will establish robust production of snake venom metalloproteinase (SVMPs) toxins ready for use to develop next generation toxin-specific therapies for tackling snakebite envenoming.
  • CYBER – Cyanobacteria Engineering for Restoring Environments (PI: Thomas Gorochowski)
    CYBER aims to develop the foundational multidisciplinary tools needed to de-risk environmentally focused engineering biology and ultimately support its future deployment into real-world ecosystems.

Anike Te (Chief Strategy Officer, Lucideon) joined a panel of experts discussing pathways to commercialisation.

During the meeting, UKRI announced the publication of the Synthetic Biology for Growth evaluation report, which features many of the impacts from BrisSynBio and the broader Bristol synthetic and engineering biology community and partnerships.

University  of Bristol named AI University of the Year

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The University of Bristol picked up two prizes at the inaugural National AI Awards, including AI University of the Year, and the AI Award for High Tech & Telecom for the REASON Open Networks Project Initiative.

The BBI and the Engineering Biology Centre for Doctoral Training both featured in Bristol’s ‘AI University of the Year’ submission, which highlighted our research “using surrogate machine learning models to approximate the behaviour of complex mechanistic models to describe complex, interconnected, biological processes; creating new protein structures with higher success rates than have previously been achievable to date; and improving the quality and reusability of open source tools that can apply advanced statistical techniques when processing experimental data.”

Professor Annela Seddon (Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research & Innovation for the Faculty of Science and Engineering) said: “We have a long history of AI research, innovation and education at the University of Bristol and we have always believed in the transformative power of AI to improve lives.”