Resources

Moa Technology has announced excellent results in multi-country field trials of promising new classes of herbicide with novel modes of action recently discovered by the company. Weeds pose a serious and increasing threat to food security around the world. With over 270 species of weeds now resistant to existing commercial herbicides, and no new broad-spectrum herbicides brought to market in the last forty years, farmers globally are running out of tools to protect their harvests. Spun out of Oxford University in 2017, Moa has developed proprietary technology to discover a whole new generation of synthetic and bio-herbicidal compounds based on novel modes of action, to provide farmers with safe, cost-effective, technologically-advanced solutions at a pace weeds cannot match. In the last three years, Moa’s platform has already screened over 750,000 compounds and discovered over 70 promising novel modes of action areas. In July 2024, Moa signed a major partnership with Nufarm to co-develop and commercialise one of these new chemical series.

There are currently very few technical standards and metrics that are specific and appropriate to the field of engineering biology. Across the innovation pipeline, there are opportunities for standards to support faster development and enable accelerated commercialisation of the bioeconomy. In response to this, an effort was undertaken with the objective of identifying key areas where standards and metrics would enable the growth of the global bioeconomy.

Featured in BIA's Deep Biotech report, Epoch Biodesign aims to revolutionize plastic waste management by creating tailor-made enzymes that efficiently depolymerize a wide range of plastics into recyclable materials, offering a circular solution to tackle plastic pollution and promote sustainability.

Solena Materials is a pioneering biotech company spun out from Imperial College London, specialising in the development of computationally designed synthetic protein materials, originally featured in BIA's Deep Biotech report on disruptive innovation for global sustainability.

A spin-out from Oxford University, Moa Technology is developing next-generation herbicides to tackle a growing crisis in agriculture. Read more in BIA's Deep Biotech report on disruptive innovation for global sustainability.

Professor Paul Freemont, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College shares insights from his speech at the 10 Downing Street reception. Discover the dynamic landscape of UK engineering biology, where innovation meets sustainability, and explore the vibrant ecosystem of pioneering companies poised to revolutionize industries worldwide.

Evonetix is developing a new tool that lets researchers build the building blocks of life – genes – faster and easier than ever before. This could lead to breakthroughs in medicine and agriculture. Read more in BIA's Deep Biotech report on disruptive innovation for global sustainability.

In this blog, Maddie Cass, Senior Policy and Public Affairs Executive at the BIA, shares insights on the Innovation & Research Caucus (IRC) recent report, which examines the current state of the UK's non-health engineering biology infrastructure.

​​​​Herbie Lambden, Senior Policy and Public Affairs Executive at the BIA, provides a rundown of the BIA Committee Summit, which took place in Westminster on 21 February.

The BIA has named this frontier of science Deep Biotech. Our brand-new report, "Deep Biotech: Disruptive innovation for global sustainability" highlights how deep biotech is key to creating a sustainable UK bioeconomy and making the UK a science superpower that benefits all. 

The Bio-Based and Biodegradable Industries Association (BBIA) and The BioIndustry Association (BIA) enter a mutual membership agreement to strengthen collaboration and support each other's work and member communities.

BIA is taking a keen interest in each of the party political conferences this year and hosted an excellent fringe event with Science Minister George Freeman at the Conservative Party conference last week, focusing on the exciting role engineering biology can play in reaching Net Zero.