Decoding biology for real-world applications

Our work in fundamental bioscience and technology innovation lays the scientific foundations for tomorrow’s breakthroughs.

By advancing fundamental bioscience and technology innovation, we generate the knowledge and tools that power transformative solutions across health, sustainability and industry. Our work spans pioneering new enzyme classes, catalytic mechanisms and high‑throughput engineering pipelines, alongside structural biology, NMR, crystallography, mass spectrometry and computational modelling – enabling programmable protein catalysis and predictive biological engineering.

Our fundamental bioscience and technology innovation research

Why does fundamental bioscience research matter?

Our fundamental bioscience research provides the essential foundations for progress across the biotechnology landscape – delivering rich experimental insights, advanced analytical tools and the innovations that enable new enzymes, materials, diagnostics and other transformative technologies.

This discovery‑led work strengthens the UK’s capability in engineering biology, fuels the pipeline of future applications and supports the collaborative, cross‑sector advances needed to maintain scientific, industrial and national competitiveness.

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News

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Manchester–Tokyo team uncovers rare nickel enzyme with potential to transform sustainable drug manufacturing

Researchers from the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) have helped reveal, for the first time, the detailed molecular mechanism by which nature constructs a rare and pharmaceutically important chemical group, the sulfonamide.

Unlocking life’s secrets: Manchester scientists join team decoding the genome’s hidden grammar

The BBSRC has awarded more than £20 million through its Strategic Longer and Larger (sLoLa) grants scheme to support four ambitious projects in microbiology, photosynthesis, gene regulation, and quantum biology.Professor Patrick Cai and Dr Joshua James join a project led by Professor Ferenc Mueller from the University of Birmingham that aims to uncover the hidden grammar of the genome – the underlying logic that governs how genes are switched on and off during development. The team combines cutting-edge computational and experimental approaches to decode these patterns, paving the way for breakthroughs in understanding and engineering biology.The project is a collaboration between partners at the University of Birmingham, EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute, Imperial College London, The Francis Crick Institute, and the University of Edinburgh.The sLoLa scheme is designed to support curiosity-driven research that furthers our understanding of how life works which could one day lead to innovation across sectors.Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith, BBSRC Executive Chair, said:“Long-term investments through our sLoLa scheme brings researchers with different expertise together to collaboratively pursue questions whose answers may reshape our understanding of the living world.”

New project to pioneer the principles of human genome synthesis

An ambitious new research project, SynHG (Synthetic Human Genome), is aiming to develop the foundational and scalable tools, technology and methods needed to synthesise human genomes. Through programmable synthesis of genetic material we will unlock a deeper understanding of life, leading to profound impacts on biotechnology, potentially accelerating the development of safe, targeted, cell-based therapies, and opening entire new fields of research in human health. Achieving reliable genome design and synthesis – i.e. engineering cells to have specific functions – will be a major milestone in modern biology

Future-proofing agriculture: scientists look to biotechnology to improve crop resilience and nutritional value

Funded by a £8.5M grant from the UK Government’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), the researchers will leverage advances in engineering biology to establish synthetic plant chromosome (synPAC) technologies. These technologies promise to provide powerful new ways of introducing novel traits to plants —such as producing essential nutrients or increased pest resistance—while maintaining the plant’s existing characteristics.Learning from nature: improving crops for people and the planetModern agriculture faces significant challenges, from climate change to soil degradation and food security concerns. However, traditional plant breeding and selection can take decades to introduce beneficial traits, relying on random genetic mixing over multiple generations.This project will develop synPACs, a novel system for rapidly designing and delivering beneficial traits to plants. Building on natural processes, synPACs enable researchers to rapidly introduce multi-gene traits in a far more precise, controllable, and predictable fashion — offering an innovative alternative to conventional breeding methods.To achieve this, scientists at The University of Manchester will develop unique new technologies that will allow crop scientists to design and build chromosomes carrying desired traits. synPACs will use Saccharomyces cerevisiae (common baker’s yeast) as a DNA assembly line to efficiently assemble large segments of plant DNA into synthetic chromosomes, prior to direct transfer to crop plants using highly efficient methods developed at the John Innes Centre, and characterised at the Earlham Institute.The Earlham Institute will lead on three areas of the project; potato tissue atlas and regulatory element discovery, assembly and testing of a potato regulatory element library through the Earlham Biofoundry, and engineering synPAC components and synPAC maintenance.The first phase of the project will focus on potatoes, a globally important crop, with the goal of developing technology pipelines to fast-track plant engineering. Initial target traits will include enhanced nutritional content and resilience against environmental stressors, as well as improving agricultural sustainability by reducing reliance on chemical inputs while improving crop yields. By enabling plants to efficiently produce valuable compounds, synPACs could also support the development of new, plant-based sources of essential nutrients and bioactive compounds, benefiting both human health and the environment.Ensuring stability, safety and ethicsThe synPAC initiative is committed to working transparently with industry partners, regulators, and the public to ensure responsible development and application of this technology. The research team is focused on delivering benefits for both farmers and consumers, ensuring that crops developed through this platform align with the highest standards of safety, sustainability, and societal acceptance. The synPAC team will work closely with social science teams also funded by ARIA to explore these critical issues.With a clear roadmap for Phase Two, the synPAC team aims to expand this technology to other staple crops, ultimately ushering in a new age of crops optimised for climate resilience, nutrition, and sustainability.

New research to reveal hidden microbial impact on CO2 storage

A new research project led by scientists at The University of Manchester in collaboration with global energy company Equinor ASA will unlock crucial insights into how microbes in deep underground storage sites could impact the success of carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Explore our other research themes

Sustainable bio-based chemicals and materials

Discover our chemicals and materials research

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Biological solutions for environmental protection

Discover our environmental research

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Biotechnologies for advanced therapeutics

Discover our therapeutics research

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