PROMICON at the International Symposium on Biopolymers (ISBP)

The 18th edition of the International Symposium on Biopolymers (ISBP) took place between 13-16 September in Sion, Switzerland. The objective of the symposia is to bring together scientists, academic and industrial delegates and other biotechnology research professionals, amongst whom PROMICON, to present their findings and discuss the most recent developments in production, processing and application of biopolymers in Switzerland and world-wide.

ISBP 2022 was jointly organised by the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO) and the University of Stuttgart. The conference focused not only on (bio)polymers like polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), cellulose, pullulan, cyanophycin, polylactic acid (PLA) and polyisoprenes (rubbers), but also included bio-based polymers like PEF and inorganic biopolymers such as polyphosphate (polyP).

Participants at the International Symposium on Biopolymers during a presentation

The main event topics included metabolic pathways and systems engineering, biosynthesis and innovation in fermentation technology and the sustainable feedstocks and life cycle assessment. Other subjects of discussion were the biopolymer usage in drug delivery, cosmetics, sustainable packaging and textiles, as well as biodegradation and recycling of biopolymers. 

Throughout the discussions, project partner Marta Catalão, representative of Nova University Lisbon, introduced PROMICON with a presentation, titled "Natural microbiomes selection of microbial consortia for biopolymer production".

Photo: PROMICON members at the International Symposium on Biopolymers.