The problem

In the current state of industrial biotechnology, the vast majority of biorefineries rely on edible substrates such as corn, wheat or sugar cane. This has sparked the food vs. fuel debate, leading to the fundamental question whether we should use our edible crops to feed the growing human population, or to provide sustainable chemicals. The limiting factor for current processes is the lack of molecular tools, which restricts biotechnology to conventional organisms that are optimised for a limited number of substrates.

The solution

The development of new technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 and Next-generation sequencing has dramatically reduced the effort required to genetically modify non-model organisms, and is effectively breaking down the barrier between model and non-model organisms. In our project we utilise Yarrowia lipolytica, in order to solve the food vs. fuel dilemma while simultaneously making industrial biotechnology an integrated part of waste handling.

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