This year's Established Academic Award is awarded to Dr Jenny Molloy, the Founder and Director of the Open Bioeconomy Lab and a Shuttleworth Research Fellow at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology for her work in developing the Open Enzyme Collection, an open source library of DNA for manufacturing critical reagents for biological research and molecular diagnostics.
While biology is the future of sustainable manufacturing in many sectors, there are numerous barriers to low and middle income countries participating in and benefiting from the global bio-economy. One is the supply chain for biological reagents such as enzymes.
Dr Jenny Molloy and scientists from MboaLab Biotech in Cameroon.
Dr Jenny Molloy and scientists from MboaLab Biotech in Cameroon.
The Open Enzyme Collection now been distributed to over 500 labs in over 50 countries, where it is enabling synthetic biology education, diagnostics innovation and local manufacturing projects that aim to expand access to biotechnology as a tool for sustainable development.
It catalysed a non-profit spin-off, Beneficial Bio, which is supporting entrepreneurs in six countries across Africa and Latin America to address reagent supply chain challenges and establish bioinnovation hubs that are engaging local academics, government and private sector partners.
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The judges said: “This project shows a strong relationship between research and its subsequent ambitious application within a range of different labs and within a global context. The co-produced work with independent labs is extremely impressive and demonstrates the academic's commitment and passion. Her work with a range of end-users has ensured the impact is both measurable and sustained with new partnerships in developing countries planned.”
