Laboratory for Microbial Biotechnology

The laboratory is a modern microbiological GMO1 laboratory where the institute’s researchers mainly work with food-relevant microorganisms. 

The laboratory is equipped with facilities for screening, cultivation and analysis of microbial metabolisms. The setup includes equipment for identification and phenotypic characterization of microorganisms, as well as HPLC equipment to determine microbial production patterns - and it also supports droplet-based high-throughput screening and BioLector-based online monitoring.

Work in the laboratory can involve both natural and genetically modified organisms. 

The facility also houses an ARTP system (cold plasma mutagenesis) capable of generating variants of microorganisms with new properties, cell-sorting systems, and a Microbial Microdroplet Culture System (MMC) that can handle small droplets containing bacteria for optimization and identification of new food-relevant microorganisms.

The personnel in the laboratory play a crucial role in developing future solutions within food fermentation and are among the leaders in lactic acid bacteria research. For example, they have developed solutions that can halve the time it takes to make cheese. They have also developed solutions that can improve the taste of plant-based foods.