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SEMICON BIOSOLUTIONS has been selected as one of the most innovative business ideas in the 20th actúaupm Entrepreneurship Competition. The idea was one of the 10 awardees out of 196 proposals received.
Currently, almost 50% of plastics used worldwide are non-degradable, leading to severe environmental pollution and exponentially increasing waste management costs. There is no viable and sustainable solution to overcome this challenge in the short term. Therefore, SEMICON BIOSOLUTIONS proposes a robust approach using microbial consortium engineering to degrade various types of plastics under different environmental conditions. In principle, this cutting-edge biological solution aims to degrade at least 25% of plastic waste stored in controlled landfills worldwide and will provide sustainable approaches to revolutionize plastic waste management.
SEMICON BIOSOLUTIONS is an innovative business idea developed by Fernando León, a student of the Master's in Biotechnology and Plant Bioengineering at UPM, with the participation of Krzysztof Wabnik, head of the Synthetic Biology group of Signaling Circuits at the Plant Genomics and Biotechnology Centre (CBGP).
SEMICON BIOSOLUTIONS project will initiate a process of maturation and business plan development within the framework of the actúaupm competition. During this stage, support will be provided to develop the idea and transform it into a solid future start-up, with the backing of the UPM's innovation and entrepreneurship team, as well as entrepreneurship experts with whom the university has collaborated over the past 20 years.
This initiative is part of the CBGP Sustainable Solutions strategic program of innovation and technology transfer (CBGP-SOLUTIONS), which aims to accelerate the transfer of knowledge generated at CBGP (UPM-INIA/CSIC) to the productive sector and provide sustainable technological solutions for social development. The CBGP-SOLUTIONS program includes the CBGP-Enterprise action, which aims to promote entrepreneurship and the creation of new technology-based companies.
Here you can find the complete list of awarded ideas advancing to the next phase.
More information at http://actuaupm.blogspot.com/
About CBGP
The mission of CBGP (UPM-INIA/CSIC) is to carry out fundamental and strategic research in the field of plant biology and microorganisms that interact with plants. The research conducted by the different groups at the Center aims to understand, from a multidisciplinary perspective, essential processes such as plant development, their interaction with the environment, and the molecular mechanisms that regulate plant nutrition. Additionally, CBGP (UPM-INIA/CSIC) develops new tools in computational biology and genomics to achieve these objectives. Acquiring basic biological knowledge is essential to tackle the challenges faced by agricultural and forestry production and contribute to the development of new biotechnological solutions. CBGP (UPM-INIA/CSIC) also plays a significant role as an educational institution, serving as a reference center for the training of young scientists, as well as Master's and Bachelor's degree students in the areas of Plant Biotechnology and Genomics. CBGP is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence and has received this excellence seal from the Ministry of Science and Innovation on two occasions (2017-2021 and 2022-2025).