Being flexible, easily foldable and recyclable, paper as substrate and functional part of portable, wireless, and/or disposable electronic devices is emerging as a promising approach to develop sustainable electronics contributing to reduce the electronic waste. INNPAPER is a use-case driven project aiming at providing a configurable common electronic platform based on multifunctional paper. To develop innovative paper manufacturing approaches, including (Nano)cellulose functionalization, to generate paper with tailor-made properties (e.g. (super)hydrophobicity/philicity, conductivity, etc) at surface and bulk level will be the first key challenge of the project. Based on this progress, a configurable common platform comprising a variety of paper-based devices (printed battery, electrochromic display, antenna and hybrid electronic circuit), where the paper will act as substrate and active component, will be developed. The common platform will be the basis for the subsequent manufacturing of a variety of use-cases covering different industrial sectors, in particular packaging and Point of Care (PoC) assays (security, food traceability, medical). The paper-based platforms will be manufactured in existing printing and hybrid manufacturing pilot-lines located at the partners facilities, providing not only a high impact paper-based electronics business case but also an open-access pilot line network to the EU after the project. An eco-design strategy including sustainability and re-use issues will be implemented. Exploitation and Business plan to ensure the profitable use of the pilot-lines in short and long term timescale and the commercialization of the resulting paper-based platforms will be elaborated. The accomplishment of the INNPAPER targets will support the EU industry in the emergence of internet of things, consolidating the paper making and wood-harvesting industries and positioning EU in the environmental management of electronic waste.

Genetic tractability of bacterial cells allows generating synthetic microbial chassis platforms (SMCPs) with remarkable biotechnological applications but their functionality currently faces important off-genome limitations due to deficient protein-protein interactions, unfavorable protein stoichiometry or generation of toxic intermediates that ultimately compromise the industrial production processes. To solve this problem, Rafts4Biotech project will take advantage of our recent discovery, that bacteria are able to organize subcellular membrane compartments similar to the so-called lipid rafts of eukaryotic cells, to improve/protect specific cellular processes. Rafts4Biotech project will engineer bacterial cells to confine biotechnologically relevant reactions into bacterial lipid rafts to optimize their stoichiometry and protect cells from undesirable metabolic interferences. Hence, the Rafts4Biotech project will produce new generation reliable and robust SMCPs in which industrial production processes are confined in bacterial lipid rafts, released from their classical off-genome limitations and optimized for industrial production. Moreover, this concept can be applied to many prokaryotes, since lipid rafts happens to occur in many bacterial species. Based on this versatility, Raft4Biotech project will use two biotechnologically relevant biosystems, Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli, to engineer synthetic bacterial lipid rafts to optimize the performance of three challenging biochemical processes in the fields of pharmaceutical, cosmetics and feed industrial sectors. To achieve this, Rafts4Biotech consortium combines different expertise in synthetic biology, systems biology and mathematical modeling and it includes a number of SMEs that will actively work in this project and will translate this technology into market application. The technology developed by Rafts4Biotec will optimize multistep industrial processes and invigorate European research.

The application of enzymes in industrial processes is increasingly important to achieve the EU’s sustainability goals and strengthen the bioeconomy, replacing oil-based chemistry. However, enzymes still find hurdles for their industrial application: low success rates of discovery and engineering; tedious and expensive methods to explore diversity; and limited activity/stability in the final application. RADICALZ assembles an interdisciplinary and intersectoral consortium to deliver faster, more versatile and more affordable tools for enzyme discovery and engineering, enabling the development of novel enzymes, new formulations and ingredients for more environment-friendly and healthier consumer products. This project will: i) develop new droplet microfluidic tools to find suitable enzymes for consumer products; ii) develop user-friendly software solutions based on machine learning (ML) for faster and more accurate enzyme engineering; iii) develop novel enzymes and bio-based, bio-catalytically synthesized ingredients for consumer products (glycosides, wash-enhancing enzymes, bio-based thickeners, natural antioxidants and fragrances); iv) develop bio-based, condition-responsive capsules for the protection and triggered release of enzymes and ingredients in the formulation of consumer products. RADICALZ will reduce the average time for enzyme discovery and evolution to <4 weeks, access 10 bio-based ingredients to replace oil-based chemistry, reducing the environmental impact –supported in depth in ≥3 cases– across 3 different types of consumer products. RADICALZ assembles 6 leading European companies and 6 pioneer academic teams expert in enzyme discovery and evolution, biocatalysis, chemical engineering, microbiology, soft-matter physics and microfluidics. The planned activities span 48 months and 7 work packages. The project is estimated at ca. 6 M€ (42% allocated to industrial partners and 64% of the total dedicated to creating highly-qualified jobs).

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are the second most common immune-mediated disorders in Europe, affecting more particularly young people. The current therapies, including antibodies, show three main drawbacks: efficacy, tolerability and convenience. NEW DEAL solution will offer radical therapeutic progress for all IBD patients, thanks to the improved efficacy and increased safety of the specific JAK3 inhibition, which has been proven in clinics to be a target of great interest, the better tolerability of siRNA in term of immunogenicity and the good convenience with oral administration. To achieve this challenge, we will address three objectives: i) Specifically inhibit JAK 3 in a highly selective and safer manner by the mean of siRNA carefully designed and validated, ii) Deliver the siRNA therapeutic locally to the inflamed gut, by combining innovative nanostructured lipid carriers enabling their transport across the mucus, the intestinal barrier and the plasma membrane of the target cells, with polymeric capsules for protecting siRNA nanotherapeutics during their transit along the GI tract, thus allowing an oral administration, and iii) Promote the clinical translation and the future industrial transfer of this new clinical product, by addressing manufacturing, safety and efficacy evaluation at the late preclinical stage, to generate a Regulatory Submission Package and a Clinical Development Plan. The NEW DEAL project brings together clinical experts on IBD, leading scientists in nanomedicine, RNAi biology and immunology, innovative SMEs with a strong background in nanosafety, design of capsules and regulatory issues and an established pharma company with historic expertise on gastroenterology medicinal products. If successful, NEW DEAL will open new avenues for siRNA-based therapy in IBD with oral administration.

The slow adoption by the agricultural sector of practices to promote biodiversity are thought to originate from three interrelated issues. First, we know little about which incentives effectively motivate farmers to integrate biodiversity into daily farm management. Second, few studies so far have produced evidence that biodiversity-based approaches produce benefits in terms of key variables for farmers (yield, profit). Third, there is a large communication gap between the scientists investigating biodiversity-based farming practices and the farmers that have to implement them. To overcome these barriers, SHOWCASE will review and test the effectiveness of a range of economic and societal incentives to implement biodiversity management in farming operations and examine farmer and public acceptance. Focus will be on three promising approaches: (i) result-based incentives, (ii) involvement in citizen science biodiversity monitoring and (iii) biodiversity-based business models. SHOWCASE will co-produce together with stakeholders a solid interdisciplinary evidence for the agro-ecological and socio-economic benefits of biodiversity management in 10 contrasting farming systems across Europe. SHOWCASE will also design communication strategies that are tailor-made to farmers and other key stakeholders operating in different socio-economic and environmental conditions. SHOWCASE will develop a multi-actor network of 10 Experimental Biodiversity Areas in contrasting European farming systems that will be used for in-situ research on biodiversity incentives and evidence for benefits as well as knowledge exchange. This network will be used to identify and test biodiversity indicators and targets relevant to all stakeholders and use them in a learning-by-doing approach to improve benefits of biodiversity management on farms both within the network and beyond.