BioFoundry: A BioFoundry for Extreme & Exceptional Fungi, Archaea and Bacteria (Ex-FAB)

A BioFoundry is a facility that enables breakthroughs in understanding biological systems by eliminating bottlenecks in research. This is achieved primarily by automating processes that researchers perform manually. A collaborative team from UC-Santa Barbara (UCSB), UC-Riverside (UCR), and CalPoly-Pomona (CPP) will establish the NSF BioFoundry for Extreme & Exceptional Fungi, Archaea and Bacteria (Ex-FAB).

ExFAB will house unique equipment and infrastructure that enable researchers to understand how microbes that thrive in extreme environments function. Traits of these microorganisms include novel pathways, proteins, and structures. These represent an untapped resource for biotechnological advances.

ExFAB will also nurture the next generation of life science and biotechnology leaders through hands-on training and educational outreach activities. ExFAB will accelerate the translation of products, processes, and intellectual property from the biofoundry to support start-up ventures and industrial use in Central/Inland California and nationwide.

A collaborative team from UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Riverside, and CalPoly-Pomona will establish the NSF Biofoundry for Extreme & Exceptional Fungi, Archaea and Bacteria (Ex-FAB). Ex-FAB focuses on organisms that exist in under conditions that would exceed the limits of adaptability for most organisms. These conditions include extremes in temperature, pressure, salinity, pH, or radiation levels.

As such they defy our current understanding of biology. Traits of these microorganisms include novel pathways, proteins, and structures. These represent an untapped resource for biotechnological advances.

ExFAB user facilities will be built to establish 3 interconnected research hubs that serve both in-house and external research projects: (1) bio-prospecting and microbial library generation, (2) genotyping and phenotyping, and (3) rapid prototyping. Computational tools to design cross-species genetic engineering tools and the computational power to analyze the large data sets generated at the biofoundry support the hubs.

Systems will be built to accomplish three major objectives. First is to characterize novel bio-prospected organisms from the environment (e.g. soil, gut, ocean). The second will automate phenotyping of fungi, anaerobes, and microbial consortia for bioremediation and bioproduction.

The third is to prototype engineered microbial systems for direct application in biotechnology, sustainability, and agriculture. ExFAB will also train and attract researchers and users from the 23 campuses of the California State University system through a master’s student education program. Hands-on training, as well as remote participation options to learn automation in biology along with machine learning, will be offered through a summer school program.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.