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
Biopetrolia receives a patent for production of fatty acid precursors
Biopetrolia has received a notice of allowance from the USPTO for a patent application related to engineering of acetyl-CoA metabolism in yeast. Acetyl-CoA is a key precursor molecule for production of a variety of biotechnology products. The strains covered in…
Biopetrolia’s research on IVA’s 100 List 2020
Biopetrolia’s research has been chosen to be included in the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences IVA´s 100 List 2020. The IVA 100 list is a list of research projects focusing on sustainability with a positive impact on society. See the…
Production of bioactive lipids with pharmacological applications with yeast
A recent publication in Nature Chemical Biology by Anastasia Krivoruchko and Biopetrolia-affiliated researchers at Chalmers details development of a yeast platform for de novo production of oleoylethanolamide, a phospholipid derivative with promising pharmacological applications in ameliorating lipid dysfunction and neurobehavioral…