Yorkshire Bioscience – YORBIO – has enlisted the help of Dr Igor Granovskiy as it attempts to become the first British company to manufacture a vital tool for genetic engineering. YORBIO, based in York, has won a £19,000 award from the Department of Trade and Industry Global Watch Secondment Programme, which enables smaller UK firms to get advice from foreign scientists.
YORBIO's award will fund Dr Granovskiy's six-month secondment. He aims to help the company to manufacture competent cells, which are derived from E.coli bacteria, and can reproduce implanted or foreign DNA.
Competent cells form an essential part of genetic research into areas ranging from the development of cures for cancer, diabetes and heart disease, to waste treatment and pollution prevention.
Dr Granovskiy joins YORBIO from the Russian Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms based at Pushchino, which is 60 miles south of Moscow and considered a world-class centre of excellence.
YORBIO was set up by Russian-born scientist Dr Slava Pavlovets in 2004 to speed up the diagnosis of newly-emerged infectious diseases such as SARS and avian flu. The business got off the ground with a £10,000 loan from the York Innovation Fund.
"This is the sort of opportunity we need in order to encourage crucial high-level technology transfer. Consequently, this is an excellent opportunity not only for YORBIO, but also the wider scientific community", said Carolyn Randall, Business Promoter at Science City York, a partnership between the city's council and university.
greg.wright@ypn.co.uk