Unlocking the Potential of Fatty Acids
High-value, bioactive and functional products
Fatty Acids and fatty acid-derived products are at the core of many industries. As such, from medically active food ingredients to personal care and cosmetics, these molecules integrate a variety of functions and uses. Despite this, sources of fatty acids are mostly plant-based, depending on their application, and some fatty acids are particularly difficult or costly to produce and extract in sustainable ways.
At Biopetrolia, we develop unique microbes for sustainable production of specialty fatty acids. Through a purely biological process, we can produce active ingredients with health benefits from sustainably-sourced raw materials. If we compare it to traditional chemical processes, this means reducing toxic waste and by-products. In addition, we can replace existing sources of fatty acids by a completely different and independent production process.
We provide a new source of fatty acids
Why an Alternative to Fatty Acid Production?
High Demand
Provided by natural oils, fatty acids are essential in food, personal care and many other industries worldwide.
Unsustainable Practices
Currently, production of many fatty acids has either negative environmental impact or high associated costs.
Rare Sources
Many fatty acids with exciting properties are only scarcely found in rare plant sources. This makes their extraction and production difficult and not economically feasible.
"With our platform, we want to produce important fatty acid products that are either difficult to source or are currently sourced unsustainably"
Anastasia Krivoruchko, Co-founder & CEO
Our Solution: Yeast Biotechnology
Tackling Global Challenges
Fermentation is a biological process usually found all around us, its main spotlight being on the production of beer, wine and bioethanol. At the core of these traditional fermentation processes we find yeast cells: microbes whose purpose is to transform sugars into alcohol!
At Biopetrolia, we focus on bioengineering yeast cells. In other words, modifying the yeast we all know and giving it new purposes. After that, these cells are put to work on fermentation, but with a fundamental difference in outcome: instead of alcohol, our proprietary yeast can now produce rare and functional fatty acids, as well as products derived from fatty acids, with applications in different industries.
With this technology, we can focus on producing fatty acids that are either difficult to find in nature, or whose traditional production is associated with unsustainable practices. In the end, this means a more sustainable, cost-competitive and scalable solution.
Latest News
What happened recently
Jens Nielsen to become director of the Bioinnovation Institute
The Novo Nordisk Foundation has appointed Jens Nielsen, co-founder and chairman of the board of Biopetrolia, as the new head of the BioInnovation Institute (BII) from 1 February 2019. BII was established by Novo Nordisk Foundation to translate basic research into practical…
Creation of the Synthetic Oil Yeast: A major step forward in fatty acid production
In an article published in the prestigious journal Cell, Biopetrolia-affiliated researchers were able to reprogram the yeast S. cerevisiae from traditional alcoholic fermentation to lipogenesis. In simpler terms, transform a yeast that was used for alcohol production into a yeast that produces fatty…
New synthetic biology tools by Biopetrolia and collaborators
The use of 2A “self-cleaving” peptides can greatly simplify construction of complex pathways in yeast. However, not all 2A peptides are created equal. In an article published by researchers from Biopetrolia, Chalmers University and UNSEP, detailed characterization of multiple 2A…