Two Prosperity Partnerships announced in boost to University research
18 Dec 2023
The two collaborations are with Boots and No7 Beauty Company, and Shell Research Limited (Shell)
Advancing understanding of skin health and ensuring inclusivity for all
Our University along with Boots and No7 Beauty Company have secured Prosperity Partnerships funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The multi-million-pound research partnership, known as Project Spectrum, seeks to redress a historical imbalance in the existing body of skin research, which previously focused on lighter skin tones, with darker skin tones underrepresented or overlooked completely. The ambitious research project will explore how skin structure, function and response to sunlight is influenced by melanin, the pigment determining skin colour, with the goal of delivering effective skincare solutions that are fit for purpose and address the needs of all people, setting a new standard for inclusivity.
Project Spectrum builds on an existing, highly successful, 15-year research collaboration between No7 Beauty Company, Boots and UoM that has made significant advances in the science of skin structural remodelling linked to environmental and age-related damage. The partnership has produced over 100 scientific publications and enabled new skincare solutions for skin health and ageing to reach UK consumers. The Prosperity Partnerships funding represents an exciting evolution of this collaboration, uniting national and international experts in skin biology, photobiology, and skin gerontology.
The collaborative effort is poised to redefine the future of skin health research, pushing boundaries, and paving the way for a more inclusive and equitable approach to skin care.
Bringing sustainable chemical manufacturing to market
Our University and Shell Research Limited (Shell) have come together in a Prosperity Partnership worth over £9 million to find new sustainable routes to manufacturing commodity chemicals, while also de-risking the process for industry.
The Sustainable Commodity Chemicals through Enzyme Engineering and Design (SuCCEED) project will look to find new ways of manufacturing the chemicals needed for many every-day products through industrial biotechnology routes. By doing this, it will help the chemical manufacturing industry move away from fossil-based feedstocks and reduce their carbon footprint.
Bio-based manufacturing routes are not currently widespread as they are difficult to scale up and don’t operate at the profit margins required for commodity chemicals. This poses a barrier to moving the chemicals industry away from petrochemicals and creating a greener industry.
To help address this, the Prosperity Partnerships bring together industry and academia to find workable solutions to industry-based problems. The Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) and Shell have assembled an interdisciplinary team, led by Professor David Leys, of biochemists, protein engineers, synthetic biologists, chemists, and chemical engineers to create a proof-of-principle, scalable, biorefinery.