Low-cost protein purification
2024 – 2026
A biotech solution is designed and evaluated to eliminate the need for expensive equipment and large amounts of energy in protein purification.
Production platform: Fermentation
Technology sector: Bioprocess design, Computational modeling, Host strain development, Target molecule selection
Project aims
This project designs and evaluates a new process to eliminate the need for expensive equipment and large amounts of energy in protein purification from precision fermentation. Specifically, the aims are to:
Evaluate the purity of the protein obtained using this technology.
- Design a yeast strain that will secrete out a protein of interest;
- Optimize the yeast strain characteristics, including its ability to attach the secreted protein to the cell surface;
- Test the ability of the yeast strain to enable purification of a protein under lab conditions and larger scale (up to 300 L) precision fermentation conditions; and
- Evaluate the purity of the protein obtained using this technology.
Principal Investigator
Gabriel Del Rio, Ph.D.
Founder, DProtein, United States
Gabriel is a biotechnology engineer who received both a Master’s degree and PhD in Biotechnology with an emphasis on protein engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Burnham Institute (San Diego, CA) and the Buck Institute for aging research (Novato, CA). He was a staff scientist at the Buck Institute for aging research. Gabriel has also received a fellowship for experienced researchers from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Research Grant Program
Explore grant opportunities and GFI-funded projects that are driving innovation and breaking boundaries in alt protein research.
