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Research and knowledge dissemination led by Greenwich on biological pesticides has made a major contribution to the introduction of novel safe commercial pesticides based on insect viruses to help farmers overcome the problems of chemical resistance in major crop pests in Asia and Africa. Research at Greenwich identified effective virus strains, methods of production and formulation which were then developed and evaluated with in country research collaborators before being transferred to local SMEs to start up production in India, Thailand, Kenya and Tanzania. Greenwich advised governments on adopting suitable regulation to support the registration and sale of these novel pesticides.
Yield of valuable biomass fibre components and their utilization in the food industry has been maximised by novel, cost-effective and environment-friendly plant fibre extraction methods developed by BEAA. Specifically, application of these methods enabled patenting and commercialisation of oat fibre extraction by the Swedish company BioVelop, directly resulting in commercial impact through international sales of five nutritional products released since 2010. The most successful of these is produced at a quantity of 180,000 kg, or € 600,000 per year. In May 2013, world-leading food-additive giant Tate & Lyle took over BioVelop, securing the success and lasting commercial impact of the BEAA technology.
The impact presented is the use of research carried out in the School of Chemical Engineering by a range of multinational food industries (inc. Unilever, Cargill, PepsiCo) to engineer a series of fat-reduced foods such as low fat spreads (LFS), dressings, margarine, sauces and mayonnaise. This has allowed them to build up a portfolio of novel low fat products; this portfolio would be much reduced or in some cases non-existent without the research contribution and capability generated by the Birmingham group as stated by Peter Lillford5.1 (former Chief Scientist, Unilever) and John Casey, (Vice President Biological Sciences, Unilever)5.2. These products are a significant and growing market segment e.g. LFS now outsell margarine/butter in a number of countries and are estimated to be worth globally 10 Billion Euros per year between 2008-13. Thus these products are having a significant impact on the industries' profitability. In addition, consumption of low fat foods act to tackle obesity with knock on effects for government (health service, lost GDP etc.) and the community as a whole.
Cranfield's work on ethylene supplemented storage is now exploited in the supply chains to major supermarkets in the UK, including Waitrose and Tesco, reducing waste and avoiding volatility in supply for fresh food products such as onions and potatoes. By prolonging storage life by up to six weeks it is also having a positive impact on the UK's self-sufficiency in these products, displacing imports from overseas.
Complementary work has also led to commercial ethylene scrubbing technologies for packaging, which typically save around 50% of in-store waste and add two days to the product life for a range of fruit and vegetables. Such packing is now in use in most mainstream UK supermarkets, and in the USA where it has created a new export market for the manufacturer.
Economic impact is claimed through the growth of the biopharmaceutical spin-out company Q Chip Ltd. During the REF period, this has created 19 new jobs, £7.5M investment, a new Dutch subsidiary (Q Chip BV), and staged-payment, six figure contract sales to four major international pharmaceutical companies.
Q Chip has generated over £928K in contract sales from the pharmaceutical industry from 2008-2012, with further sales of over £1M projected in 2013-14.
Originally established by Professor David Barrow in 2003 from his micro technology research, Q Chip has developed new processes and miniaturised equipment to encapsulate materials, including drugs, within uniform polymeric microspheres as injectable therapeutics.
Many clinically-useful natural products fall into the class of polyketides. From 1993, research led by Professors Leadlay (Biochemistry) and Staunton (Chemistry) on polyketide biosynthesis pathways led to the foundation of the spin-out company Biotica Technology Ltd in 1996. Between 2008 and 2013 the company provided continuous employment for on average 15-20 highly-skilled scientists, and attracted additional investments of £4.43M. Its follow-on company Isomerase Therapeutics Ltd, founded by ex-Biotica researchers with Leadlay's support in 2013, has acquired compounds, strains and IP from Biotica. Using the methods developed in the University by Leadlay and Staunton, Biotica developed a HepC antiviral therapy, sold in 2013 to NeuroVive Pharmaceuticals AB and currently entering pre-clinical toxicology tests. Biotica have also licensed their technology to a number of companies globally, including GSK and Amyris.
University of Huddersfield research in physical organic chemistry has delivered economic, industrial and societal benefits. It has led to process improvements in chemical manufacturing, most notably in the optimisation of the synthesis of antisense oligonucleotides and in the use of liquid ammonia as a solvent. It has also led to the development of new inhibitors of bacterial β-lactamases for use as antibacterials. The research team's expertise has been reflected in the success of IPOS (Innovative Physical Organic Solutions), a unit established in 2006 to carry out research in process and other areas of chemistry for the chemical industry. IPOS expanded significantly from 2009 to 2013 and has now collaborated with more than 150 companies, many of them based in Yorkshire/Humberside where regeneration is critically dependent on the success of new, non-traditional, high-technology firms and industries. Through these collaborative projects, IPOS has contributed to the growth and prosperity of both regional and national industry.
Resistivity anomalies resulting from hydrocarbon reservoirs can be located and measured using controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) techniques. The University of Southampton played a pivotal role in the first full-scale marine CSEM survey over a hydrocarbon target in late 2000. This survey and subsequent work spawned one of the greatest technological advances in the field of oil exploration since the development of 3D seismic techniques. By the end of 2012 over 650 commercial CSEM surveys had been completed worldwide, with annual survey revenues in excess of US$200 million. The University continues to develop impact through consultancy and industry-funded research projects.
Gait recognition research has produced impacts on public policy, on national security processes, on forensic service practice, on culture and society. The notion that people can be recognised by the way they walk was invented as a totally new means to identify people and has gained increasing popularity, reflected by its inclusion in an episode of BBC premier series Spooks. This followed considerable scientific development after its invention at Southampton in 1994, culminating in impacts that include its integration in a commercial system piloted by the National Physics Laboratory, novel forensic use in a criminal conviction, its take up by researchers at the Serious Organised Crime Agency and its focus by The Forensic Science Society. Southampton has retained its position at the forefront of gait biometrics research, collaborating nationally and internationally and driving prolific media engagement that has furthered this new technology and increased its global impact
Locust and grasshopper outbreaks can form swarms containing billions of insects, creating feared and damaging agricultural pests. Following research at Imperial College London, the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum was developed into an oil formulated product (`Green Muscle®') that could be applied by ground-based and aerial spray equipment at ultra-low volume (ULV) rates, when locust and grasshopper populations periodically increased. Green Muscle® has since been used to treat locust outbreaks in Israel and five southern African countries. Green Guard®, an associated mycoinsecticide marketed in Australia, has been used extensively to control locusts in regions where there are land use limitations on chemical pesticides. Both Green Musclef6da and Green Guardf6da are supplied by Becker Underwood. Besides the success of Metarhizium as an effective, environmentally-friendly locust control option, substantial science and enabling technology ensued, that should accelerate the development of other mycopesticides as important alternatives to currently beleaguered chemical pest control methods.