Princeton researchers boost bioreactor efficiency with new integrated approach

In New Jersey, to improve bioreactor efficiency, researchers at Princeton University will create an integrated approach to monitoring and controlling the organisms’ metabolic activity thanks to support from the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund. Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google parent company Alphabet Inc., and his wife, Wendy, created the $25 million endowment fund in 2009 to support the development of new technologies at Princeton University that could have broad beneficial impacts. Eric Schmidt is a 1976 alumnus and former trustee of the University.

The approach will involve developing yeast strains that simultaneously carry genes that enable them to produce biofuels or other chemicals as well as genes that encode biosensors to report on the amount of chemical being made. The organisms will also contain genes that are switched on when light is shone on the yeast, allowing researchers to turn on or off the production of the chemicals. These techniques will be combined with computational methods that enable researchers to optimize production.