Nicole Buan, an expert in microbial physiology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, was among specialists invited from all 50 states to participate in a March 25 national symposium identifying strategies to strengthen the country’s biotech sector.
The Biotech Across America State Symposium in Washington, D.C., highlighted approaches that can be adapted or scaled across different states to address biotech talent pipeline development, commercialization efforts and bioliteracy programs. The national symposium was sponsored through a partnership of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, the Federation of American Scientists and the Engineering Biology Research Consortium. The United States Congress charged the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology with conducting a thorough review of how advancements in emerging biotechnology and related technologies will shape current and future activities of the Department of Defense, and the symposium was part of those efforts.
Buan, a professor of biochemistry, directs a range of advanced research projects in basic science and applied science relevant to renewable energy and bioproducts. The National Science Foundation has awarded her a three-year, nearly $1.1 million grant to study methanogens, microorganisms that produce methane as a metabolic byproduct in low-oxygen environments. That biological process is crucial in breaking down organic matter in wetlands, oceans and animal digestive tracts. Methanogens are currently used worldwide to generate methane (biogas) in landfills and anaerobic digesters as part of water treatment systems.
Buan’s work to begin to map the biochemical circuitry of the methanogen Methanosarcina acetivorans can help pave the way toward engineering methanogens to supply renewable methane, hydrogen and other bioproducts.
Buan is a co-founder of a Nebraska startup, Molecular Trait Evolution, which was started with Paul Blum, Charles Bessey Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, and is led by Husker alumnus and CEO Sean Carr. MTE uses engineered enzymes to increase ethanol and biodiesel yield from Nebraska crops.
“There is great opportunity for Nebraska students, faculty and producers to work together to move cutting-edge science from the bench to the market,” Blum said. “I am delighted to help lift up the innovative biotechnology research being done at UNL.”
Rob Owen, executive director of Bio Nebraska and an alumnus of the Nebraska College of Law, also attended the symposium. Bio Nebraska, a nonprofit trade association supporting Nebraska’s bioscience sector, has more than 135 member companies in agricultural biotechnology, biomanufacturing and medical innovation.
Nebraska’s bioeconomy employs more than 18,000 people and has concentrations above the national average in three bioscience subsectors: agricultural feedstock and industrial biosciences; transportation and distribution of bioscience products; and medical devices and equipment. The state is home to 24 ethanol plants and is the country’s No. 2 producer of ethanol.
The NSCEB sponsors workshops across the country that showcase the vision and talent of local biotech stakeholders, said Michelle Rozo, the commission’s vice chair.
“The hard work and dedication represented at the Biotech Across America State Symposium prove that regional biotech ecosystems are the foundation for durable economic resilience,” Rozo said.
The national symposium provided a vehicle for sharing successful strategies and developing approaches of wide applicability in strengthening biotechnology efforts at the state and local levels.
