A new laboratory will bring researchers from South
Dakota Mines and South Dakota State University together with industry partners
to transition bench-scale bioprocessing and bioproducts research to the
marketplace.
The POET Bioproducts Institute “will provide
structure and simplicity for private enterprise to collaborate with university
scientists to develop products,” according to SDSU Vice President for Research
and Economic Development Daniel Scholl.
Mines Vice President for Research Ralph Davis says,
“The vision is to move existing research at the two universities to a higher
level with our industry partners and to do final proof-of-concept work that
will show commercial viability.”
To facilitate those public-private partnerships, the
specialized lab in the Research Park at SDSU will be managed by a newly
established not-for-profit organization, Dakota Bioproducts Innovation
Institute.
“Private enterprise experts will help university
researchers ask the right questions,” Davis explains. “It is important to have
that partner who says ‘that’s an interesting process in a 100- or
250-milliliter flask, but what are you going to do when you take it off the
Bunsen burner?’”
The 45,000-square-foot facility is made possible
through $20 million in legislative funding, $5 million from POET and $2 million
from South Dakota Corn. Furthermore, the South Dakota Soybean Research and
Promotion Council will provide $500,000 annually for five years—a total of $2.5
million—and the state committed a yearly $500,000 for operational costs.
“We want to acknowledge the South Dakota Legislature
and the Governor’s Office and our industry partners and stakeholders who have
invested in this facility and share our vision of the potential economic
benefits for our state,” Davis says. A request has been submitted to the U.S.
Economic Development Administration for $3 million to help with the purchase of
specialized equipment.
Developing
biomaterials
Mines is strong on the bioprocessing side,
developing biomaterials through two centers begun with state funding. The
Composites and Polymer Engineering Lab, or CAPE Lab, was founded in 2004 and
develops advanced polymers and composite processing.
The Composite and Nanocomposite Advanced
Manufacturing – Biomaterials Center, or CNAM-Bio, was launched in September
2018 and is housed within CAPE. Through collaboration among disciplines ranging
from microbiology to mechanical engineering, the center seeks to meet the need
for sustainable polymers and strong, multifunctional biocomposites and
bionanocomposite structures.
“We have processes and products ready to move to the
next level, which we cannot do within our facilities. The bioproducts
laboratory will be equipped to accommodate the right volume industry needs to
show that a technology can be commercialized,” Davis says.
Mines professor David Salem, who directs the two
composite materials research centers, says, “The new laboratory is a crucial
component in bringing innovative biomaterials, such as biodegradable plastics,
to the marketplace through cost-competitive, sustainable bioprocesses."
Another product of the laboratory will be highly
trained scientists and engineers who can help industry partners expand
operations. That workforce will also encompass administrative and accounting as
well as technical people responsible for plant and facility operation. “We can
build that whole spectrum of beyond-$15-an-hour jobs,” Davis says.
Scholl concluded, “We are creating a growth industry
for our graduates, diversifying the South Dakota economy and adding value to
agricultural products.”
Using
agricultural feedstock
Based on recommendations from an international
bioscience consulting team, Scholl and Davis chose two specialization areas:
specialty animal feeds, specifically prebiotics and probiotics that have the
potential to reduce the need for antibiotics; and biomaterials, including
bioplastics that are degradable.
“These are the areas we judged to have the highest
likelihood of success,” Scholl says, pointing to the state’s abundant supply of
agricultural feedstock.
SDSU’s strengths are on the feedstock and
preprocessing side as well as the downstream animal feed testing trials.
Associate Professor of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Joy Scaria develops
probiotics to improve animal and human gut health. He is in the latter stages
of optimizing a mixture of bacterial strains that may reduce piglets’
susceptibility to disease and infection during weaning.
“A facility like this would be beneficial in terms
of scale-up capacity,” Scaria says. Mines’ expertise in fermentation will also
be helpful for his research.
“Our research relationships with the nutrition
industry also create a lot of potential,” Scholl says. Associate Animal Science
Professor Crystal Levesque says, “We have a strong connection to producers
through SDSU Extension and an established relationship with the feed industry
through research we’ve already conducted.”