Mr. William Mawuko Kodzo Siegu, a Ph.D. student involved in the HELVA project, recently captivated audiences with his insightful research on an innovative preculturing strategy designed to boost the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) using sodium acetate as the unique carbon source. His presentation took place at the Biocatalysis Conference for Biological Transformation Along Renewable Value Chains, held from November 18 to 20, 2024, in Düsseldorf, Germany. This conference brought together an impressive array of biomanufacturing industry leaders, including representatives from Michelin (France), BYK Chemie GmbH, Repsol Technology (Spain), and AstraZeneca (Sweden), as well as esteemed academics and donor organizations from North Rhine-Westphalia.
The main aim of the gathering was to advocate for a vibrant bioeconomy in Europe. During his engaging presentation, Mr. Siegu highlighted how employing biofilm instead of traditional colonies dramatically enhanced inoculum growth. This innovative approach to optimizing the bioprocess also led to substantial gains in biomass growth and a remarkable reduction in reaction times by 24 to 48 hours. Attendees were interested in learning from and engaging with frontrunners in Europe’s evolving bioeconomy. Mr. Siegu's project garnered interest for potential industrial collaboration, with partners like BioMatPro at RWTH Aachen (Germany) and OMV (Italy) eager to explore his findings. Additionally, Biosphere (Italy) expressed enthusiasm about lending their expertise in scaling up and optimizing the bioprocess, opening exciting doors for future advancements in this dynamic field!
