Biofuel study

The team at Northumbria hopes to use traditional scientific laboratory analysis techniques alongside Nonlinear Dynamics’ advanced data analysis software in order to study the function of proteins and identify those produced by a cell or organism.

It also hopes that the results could help scientists better understand how micro-organisms release sugars during the production of biofuels.

Northumbria University’s Prof Gary Black, who is leading the research, explained: ‘Proteomics has wide ranging applications for scientific advancement in everything from identifying cancerous cells to the development of the most efficient forms of biofuels.

‘However, one of the drawbacks of proteomics to date has been the issue of accurately reproducing the data in the significant quantity required to have a real impact on its application in areas such as the biofuels industry and the healthcare sector.’

Northumbria University hopes to use traditional scientific laboratory culturing techniques to grow a bacteria commonly found in soil called Cellvibrio japonicus. It will then isolate and analyse the proteins found within the micro-organisms and use Nonlinear Dynamics’ software to determine how easily the results can be reproduced.