DuPont Bio-Based Materials and Genencor International Reach Technical Milestones for Microbe That Makes Corn-Based Chemical

16-Oct-2002

Wilmington and Palo Alto Oct. 14, 2002 - Scientists from DuPont Bio-Based Materials and Genencor International, Inc. announced the achievement of major technical milestones in the development of a microbe which produces the key ingredient in a new corn-based DuPont polymer.

Through a fermentation process, the microbe converts sugar (glucose) into a monomer, 1,3 propanediol, or PDO. The monomer is then used to make DuPont(TM) Sorona(R) 3GT polymer, the company's newest and most advanced polymer platform.

"This achievement represents the crowning success of our seven-year collaboration with Genencor," said Dr. John P. Ranieri, vice president of DuPont Bio-Based Materials. "Genencor has played a pivotal role in achieving the targets that are crucial to effective bio-PDO production. This is also a major step in our company's movement toward sustainability through the use of renewable natural resources."

Genencor and DuPont scientists used pathway engineering to combine DNA from several different microorganisms into one production strain resulting in a 500-fold increase in bioprocessing productivity.

"We are proud of our contribution in overcoming a major technical barrier to the production of bio-PDO," said Tom Pekich, group vice president of bioproducts for Genencor. "This project is a great example of what our pathway engineering platform can do for the production of materials from renewable resources."

DuPont currently manufactures Sorona(R) polymer using PDO from a petrochemical process. However, achievement of these technical milestones is a significant step toward commercialization of the company's bio-based product. DuPont and its other development partner, Tate & Lyle, are working to finalize the biotechnology-based PDO manufacturing process. Once commercial sales begin, Genencor will receive royalties on each pound of material sold.

Sorona(R) polymer has a number of potential applications in fibers, films and engineering polymers. In apparel, Sorona(R) fiber is soft, features excellent stretch and recovery, stain resistance and can be dyed to brilliant colors using environmentally friendly methods.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/14967/dupont-bio-based-materials-and-genencor-international-reach-technical-milestones-for-microbe-that-makes-corn-based-chemical.html