INRAE TRANSFERT SAS

Synthetic biology is a disruptive technology that enables completely new processes and products for industry, medical applications and food production, it makes the processes and products cheaper and more sustainable. SynBio will renew and challenge many major industries. The estimated overall market to be affected by SynBio exceeds $13 trillion. The global SynBio market is expected to grow from $5.3 billion in 2019 to $18.9 billion by 2024 with a CAGR of 28.8%. Leading European research organizations have a proven scientific record of excellence in the field. However, European science remains largely under-exploited commercially. One impact factor is difficulty to quickly consolidate transdisciplinary teams. Indeed, there is a need for clearer vision on the necessary current and future skills, required by the industry. SynBio is a relatively young discipline, made up of multiple sub-divisions, thus searching for a right profile (KOL, researcher, intern) is time-consuming for industrial companies, and can be even longer for startups. While the boom of accelerators and incubators and entrepreneurial training have driven start-up creation, the lack of specific thematic approaches can hinder the creation and/or maturation of SynBio start-ups. The SYNBEE project will address these challenges by: (i) SWOT analysis, matrix of best practices, mapping of academic profiles and industry in SynBio. (ii) General and SynBio-specific entrepreneurial training in close interaction with the industry. (iii) Networking, matchmaking between candidates and hosting and mentoring industrial partners, hackathons, pitch contests. (iv) Creation of a path from talented student to startup creation and investor workshops. (v) Policy making and mentoring between ecosystems. (vi) Specific focus will be brought to women in SynBio. SYNBEE will be implemented by key SynBio academia, industry, accelerators, investors from 25 EU countries, including 7 emerging and 6 moderate ecosystems.

GENE-SWitCH aims to deliver new underpinning knowledge on the functional genomes of two main monogastric farm species (pig and chicken) and to enable immediate translation to the pig and poultry sectors. The activation status of functional genome sequences varies across time and space, and in response to environmental perturbations. In full coordination and synergy with global effort and ongoing projects of the Functional Annotation of ANimal Genomes (FAANG) community, we will characterize the dynamics (“switches”) of the functional genome from embryo (chicken) and fetus (pig) to adult life by targeting a panel of tissues relevant to sustainable production. New expression QTL data in pigs and existing high-resolution QTL data in chicken will be used for developing innovative genomic predictive models that integrate functional annotations, and these models will be validated in commercial pig and poultry populations. In addition, nutritional epigenetic data will allow evaluation of the influence of maternal diet on the epigenome of the pig fetus and whether such effects persist until post-weaning. These open-shared datasets will conform fully with FAANG standards and add valuable knowledge on genetic and epigenetic variation of functional elements to FAANG. A comprehensive plan of dissemination and outreach activities to a large audience of stakeholders will be implemented. The GENE-SWitCH consortium brings together partners representing pan-European excellence (including the academic institutions which pioneered FAANG) and world-leading animal breeding and biotech industry in a true co-creation effort. Overall, GENE-SWitCH will contribute to the global FAANG effort considerably, demonstrate how functional annotation of genomes can foster the advancement of genomic selection for immediate benefit to the breeding industry, and produce cutting-edge research paving the way to new studies and strategies for sustainable productions.

SmartCow integrates key European cattle research infrastructures, to promote their coordinated use and development and thereby help the European cattle sector face the challenge of sustainable production. Covering all the relevant scientific fields and the diversity of cattle types and production systems, SmartCow will provide the academic and private research communities with easy access to 11 major research infrastructures from 7 countries (18 installations) of high quality services and resources. These are needed to develop innovative and ethical solutions for efficient use of animal and feed resources that promote animal welfare and healthy livestock, as well as sustainable competitiveness. SmartCow combines strong scientific and technical skills in animal nutrition (in vivo methods for nutrient utilisation and emissions measurements), genetics (genotyped animals, phenotyping capabilities), health and welfare (sensors and automatic recordings of physiological and behavioural traits) and ethics in animal experimentation. A central promotion and management of transnational access to the research infrastructures will provide access to around 10,000 cow.weeks and facilitate up to 33 research projects involving 59 users. Networking activities will harmonise and standardise procedures especially in animal care and measurements, design of experiments, data recording and analysis thanks to a cloud-based data-platform specifically developed in the project. Joint research activities will produce refined methods and proxies to evaluate feed efficiency and emissions, develop new protocols to reduce the use of animals and produce new methods to exploit sensor data for cattle husbandry. Promotion of transnational access and dissemination of SmartCow outcomes and innovations for maximum impact will be supported by a Stakeholder Platform composed of pre- and post-farm gate industry, farmer organisations, NGOs, policy makers at national and EU levels.

The overall goal of the FOODPathS CSA project is to develop a ‘Prototype Partnership for Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) for people, planet and climate’. It endeavers a systems approach and aims a change of mindsets to accelerate the transition to SFS. The Prototype will serve as the first version of how the future Partnership will function. Hence, it encompasses all its components such as the i) innovative, effective and inclusive governance model and Modus operandi with aligned and committed co-funders, ii) Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda (SRIA) supporting Food2030 priorities including science-to-policy and education programs for FS, iii) European Hub of co-creating local FS Labs following a Code of Conduct and sustainability chart developed by a branded network of exemplary universities, iv) FS Network of local and global players with a toolkit for co-benefits and trade-off’s, v) new co-creation concepts, FS approach and Observatory. FOODPathS will not only present the Prototype in 2023/2024 but also accompany the future Partnership at its start by providing methodologies, (digital) tools, programs, working protocols and a dedicated multi-level, inclusive, governance model. . To accomplish this challenge, FOODPathS brings together 17 partners across Europe from funding organizations, public institutions, academia, research and education organisations, private and farming sectors (including SMEs), philanthropic organisations, NGO, and not-for-profit organisations. They all represent networks of potential co-funders, regional and , local policy makers, universities, private parties and farmers, consumers and civil society. Thanks to appropriate resources and events, all these necessary stakeholders along the food chain will be actively involved to shape the future FS Partnership.

EU-IBISBA is a distributed research infrastructure concept that will deliver translational research and innovation services to the research community and industry alike. Its aim is to accelerate the movement of knowledge and early stage research results towards maturity and uptake for further development by industrial R&I. EU-IBISBA's expertise is within the field of industrial biotechnology and focuses on the integrated development of bioprocesses, using a multidisciplinary approach and advanced technology such as synthetic biology. PREP-IBISBA intervenes just after the addition of EU-IBISBA on the ESFRI roadmap and as a follow-up to an ongoing H2020 INFRAIA starting community project entitled IBISBA 1.0. The aim of PREP-IBISBA is to create the conditions to launch EU-IBISBA. It will deliver all the conceptual elements necessary to finalize the science and technology case and define the business model, establish a long range financial plan and identify alternative legal frameworks suitable to deliver EU-IBISBA. Supported by strong managerial procedures, numerous stakeholders consultations, communication and dissemination work and specific actions aimed at delivering e-tools, this work will provide the basis for commitment by stakeholders, particularly Member States, but also industry investors (through a public-private partnership). Overall, the work will lead to the creation of a legal entity, preferentially either an ERIC or another suitable legal instrument. PREP-IBISBA will also prepare EU-IBISBA implementation by providing the opportunity for transition. Intervening after the creation of the legal entity, this involves the progressive initiation of EU-IBISBA business processes. Siting of EU-IBISBA will be decided, a skeleton Executive team put into place and preliminary governance deployed. The transition will allow dry running of some business processes and will ease EU-IBISBA towards full implementation.