Foxes uses molecular markers that make the fermentation process faster and more efficient
A technology developed at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) and licensed, with the support of the Innovation Agency Inova Unicamp, by the daughter company Foxes, helps monitor the ethanol fermentation process, boosting financial gains for producers. The invention has strong potential in the national market, given that Brazil is the largest ethanol producer in the world, as shown by data from the Institute of Agricultural Economics (IEA).
The focus of this technology, the so-called karyotyping process, consists of analyzing variations in the number and size of the yeast's 16 chromosomes. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, used in the ethanol fermentation process. Foxes uses molecular markers with high discriminatory power, including in lineages with the same technological and geographic origin. The analysis, which comprises the combined use of four to six molecular markers, generates a unique result profile for each yeast, similar to a barcode. This marking is more efficient in the process of identifying yeasts and mapping external microorganisms that later entered the process, offering the producer a reduction in losses.
In Brazil, fermentation activity takes place in open tanks, with interaction with the external environment, which leads to contamination of the fermentation by bacteria and yeasts. Interaction with wild bacteria can represent a loss of up to 10% of production. In a distillery that produces 800 thousand liters of alcohol per day, this means a daily reduction of 64 thousand to 80 thousand liters of ethanol. Therefore, using markers in yeast would allow the mill owner to maximize financial gains.
Foxes was created in 2019, by Guilherme Borelli, a doctoral student at the Institute of Biology (IB) at Unicamp, under the guidance of professor Gonçalo Pereira, from the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Bioagents at IB. The company already serves seven plants in Brazil, such as Ferrari and the Ativos group, as well as customers in the bakery sector. Borelli explains that the technology has great potential for the ethanol market, but its expansion and applicability within national plants still encounters resistance.
“Entrepreneurs of national plants are still very conservative with their processes and rely on procedures that have already been used for years. There is still a lot of reluctance, but the plants that trust our work and agree to learn about the invention invest in the process”, explains Borelli.
Given its high capacity for screening different strains of yeast, the technology offered by Foxes can be applied to other fermentation processes, such as baking and beverage production.
Inventors Award 2022
Inventors awarded in this licensing:
Gonçalo Amarante Guimarães Pereira, Osmar Vaz De Carvalho Netto, Felipe Galzerani, Juan Lucas Argueso, Fabiana De Melo Duarte, Gustavo Gilson Lacerda, Silvia Kazue Missawa and Marcelo Falsarella Carazzolle were awarded in the Licensed Intellectual Property category at the Inventores 2022 Awards.
Tribute schedule
This article is part of the series of reports produced by Inova Unicamp about some of the licensed technologies, which can be read by Inova website and also in e-book format at Inventors Award Magazine, scheduled for release in June. A webinar with content on intellectual property and technology transfer is also scheduled for June 8 (Registration open to the general public).
Check out all the winners on Unicamp Inventors Award website.
The 2022 Inventors Award sponsors are: Pulse Hub, ClarkeModet, 3M e Neger Telecom
Text originally published in website of the Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency
