UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced it will invest £5.8 million in the UK’s engineering biology sector to drive growth, with funds allocated to seed corn and proof of concept initiatives through the Technology Missions Fund.

UKRI said it was making the investment as engineering biology has the potential to solve some of our biggest global challenges, from developing new vaccines and therapies, to plastic-free packaging and sustainable fuels for transport.

The £3 million proof of concept programme will aim to create new collaborations between academics and industry working in engineering biology, to be delivered through the SynbiCITE Innovation and Knowledge Centre based at Imperial College London’s White City Deep Tech Campus.

Successful applicants will get access to SynbiCITE’s state-of-the-art facilities like The London BioFoundry, providing a suite of equipment and training.

Meanwhile, a separate £2.8 million seed corn fund will support the development of commercial opportunities from previously funded Engineering Biology Mission Hubs and Mission Awards research programmes, announced earlier this year.

The seed corn fund aims to drive the commercialisation of engineering biology discoveries through the scaling of new technologies, prototype testing, and the development of sustainable business models, as well as end user engagement, market discovery and enterprise training.

It’s hoped that this could lead to revolutionary designs in advanced biosensors, disease resistant crops, and biofilm solutions for water and waste management. 

The UK’s science minister, Patrick Vallance, said: “Engineering biology is a technology with transformative potential for our health, the economy and national resilience.

“From the development of new medicines to creating sustainable fuels, it could significantly help us in our missions to improve healthcare, grow our economy and become a green energy superpower. This funding will be a welcome boost to innovators who are working to get their engineering biology breakthroughs out of the lab, and onto the marketplace.” 

UKRI’s programme continues work that began under the previous government with the publication of the National Vision for Engineering Biology, which specifically highlighted the issue which engineers and innovators previously had when trying to access the specialist facilities needed to test their work.

Those already working in the field responded to the government’s initial consultation by reporting significant gaps across investment and national infrastructure, leaving smaller tech firms and entrepreneurs with constrained budgets little access to turn their ideas into commercial realities.

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As part of the plan to close these gaps, the engineering biology sector was folded into UKRI’s Technology Missions programme, a £320 million scheme to enable new capabilities across emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, future telecommunications, and quantum technologies.

Moving forward, if the Labour government continues to stick to the plan developed by its predecessor, £2 billion will be invested into the UK’s engineering biology sector over ten years, bolstering the more than £5 billion firms have already fundraised.