MRes Alternative Protein students work on their research project throughout the year.   You can apply for one of the projects listed below.

You must name at least one project or potential supervisor in your personal statement when you apply.

Applications will be considered in round 3 and 4. If you apply in round 4, please consider including a second or third choice project in your application, as some projects may already have been allocated.

 

Projects available for 2026-27 entry

Professor Francesca Ceroni

Profile: https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/f.ceroni 

Contact details: f.ceroni@imperial.ac.uk

 

Project title Description
Rewiring mammalian cells metabolism to enable sustainable cultivated meat manufacturing Cultivated meat offers a sustainable alternative to traditional livestock farming, but current production methods are expensive and resource intensive. A major challenge is that mammalian cells used to grow meat require complex and costly nutrients. This project, based at the Chemical Engineering Dept and Bezos Centre at Imperial College London, aims to make cultivated meat more affordable and environmentally friendly by reprogramming bovine muscle cells to use simpler, cheaper nutrients. Using advanced synthetic biology tools, we will introduce alternative metabolic pathways from microbes into mammalian cells. These engineered cells will be tested for growth and performance, supported by computer models that predict how the cells use energy and nutrients. The student will learn molecular cloning, bacteria and cell culture techniques, use of flow cytometry, plate readers and microscopy to expression assessment.

 

 

Professor Rodrigo Ledesma Amaro

Profile: https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/r.ledesma-amaro 

Contact details: r.ledesma-amaro@imperial.ac.uk 

 

Project title Description
The global potential of mycoprotein to overcome malnutrition: fortified tempeh from fungal bacterial co-cultures In this work engineering biology will be used to produce Tempeh 2.0, with improved nutrition and sensory quality
Synthetic Biology of Fusarium Venenatum for Meat Alternative Applications In this work, the student will develop a toolbox to improve the nutritional and sensory properties of Fusarium venantum to manufacture affordable and delicious meat alternatives
Dr Sam Au

Profile: https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/s.au 

Contact details: s.au@imperial.ac.uk 

 

Project title Description
Engineering Laboratory-Grown Cancer-Free Meat The link between meat consumption is well established - processed meats are classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the IARC, and red meats as classified as a Group 2A carcinogen. Ingested meat interacts with microbiome to produce cancer-causing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) that can damage DNA in cells of the gastrointestinal tract.



The goal of this project is to develop a synbio platform to systematically modify naturally occuring animal proteins to reduce their carcinogenicity for eventual production as cultured meat for human consumption. These “laboratory-grown, cancer-free" meats may have global impact because of the expanding global appetite for meat consumption as developing countries industrialise combined with the search for more ethical and healthier alternative dietary choices. These meats: a) have the potential to prevent the development of large numbers of gastrointestinal cancers that would otherwise develop, and b) represent a large upcoming global market opportunity.



The research program will follow three integrated phases:

1. Protein Bioengineering: Utilizing the synthetic biology and host-cell engineering expertise of Dr Francesca Ceroni and Dr Rodrigo Ledesma Amaro, we will create new formats of animal meat proteins. These proteins will be rationally designed to reduce their ability to interact with the microbiome and generate carcinogenic ROS or NOCs.

2. In Vitro Screening: We will employ cell-free in vitro assays to study the relative ability of these novel proteins to generate carcinogenic chemicals (ROS and NOCs) compared to traditional control proteins in the Au Lab. Engineered proteins will be treated via the standardised INFOGEST digestion protocols to mimic the influence of human digestion and metabolism. 

3. Carcinogenicity Validation: Leading candidates will be delivered gastrointestinal cells within microfluidic devices developed in the Au Lab. These systems allow for longer-term physiological exposure. We will perform immunohistochemistry and COMET assays to test for DNA damage and mutagenesis in extracted cells.



This project is the initiation of a larger future collaboration amongst multiple research groups including Dr Rodrigo Amaro & Dr Francesca Ceroni (Synbio), Dr Sam Au (Bioengineered models of Cancer), and Prof Amanda Cross (Cancer Epidemiology) with support of the Bezos Centre for Sustainble Proteins and the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre
Dr Sonja Billerbeck

Profile: https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/s.billerbeck 

Contact details: s.billerbeck@imperial.ac.uk 

 

Project title Description
Food from Air: Metabolic engineering of hydrogen-oxidising bacteria for high-yield food protein production. Currently, almost all globally consumed food is produced by traditional agriculture. This includes growing crops and growing feed for livestock. Traditional agriculture contributes 37% of global greenhouse gas emissions and places a significant burden on the environment, as vast amounts of arable land and fresh water are used. To mitigate this looming crisis, microbial fermentations using bacteria, yeast, or fungi have emerged as a more sustainable way for food production. Here, gas fermentation offers a disruptive solution with the potential to completely uncouple food production from agriculture, enabling the production of foods from gases present in the air.
Gas fermentation is based on bacteria that can convert gases such as atmospheric COâ‚‚ and green Hâ‚‚ into biomass. One class of bacteria able to feed on CO2 and hydrogen are gram-negative hydrogen-oxidising bacteria of the Xanthobacter clade. Gas fermentation has recently been commercialised at scale for biomass fermentations with non-modified microorganisms, proving the technical feasibility of its scalability. However, to diversify this air-fed food chain to high-value products beyond biomass, the next frontier is to move toward using engineered hydrogen-oxidising bacteria able to produce high yields of a given food protein (e.g. milk protein). We recently developed genetic engineering tools for different Xanthobacter species, and this project will use a combination of these tools to enhance the yields of food protein production.
Skills that will be learned: culturing Xanthobacter on various growth media, Golden Gate cloning, metabolic engineering, heterologous protein production, and data analysis.
Required background: basic skills in molecular cloning and biochemistry are advantageous.
Further reading: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2025.08.003 External Link
Food from Air: Decoupling biomass production from product formation in hydrogen-oxidising bacteria. A second frontier in gas precision fermentation (see project above for background) is achieving precise genetic control over when a food molecule is produced during the process. Because producing food molecules places a significant metabolic burden on cells, effective fermentation strategies typically operate in two stages. First, cells grow and accumulate biomass without producing the target food molecule. This is followed by a dedicated production phase, in which synthesis is switched on using an external trigger.
This project focuses on characterising and iteratively improving a range of genetic control switches in Xanthobacter species and evaluating which induction triggers are most compatible with food-industry requirements.
Skills that will be learned: culturing Xanthobacter on various growth media, Golden Gate cloning, metabolic engineering, heterologous protein production, and data analysis.
Required background: basic skills in molecular cloning and biochemistry are advantageous.
Further reading: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2025.08.003 External Link
Food from Air: Developing enabling technologies for metabolic engineering of hydrogen-oxidising bacteria To fully harness the capacities of hydrogen-oxidising bacteria for bioproduction, advanced genetic and genomic engineering tools are required. This project involves surveying the literature for the newest and most efficient genome editing tools, as well as implementing and optimising them for performance in Xanthobacter.
Skills that will be learned: culturing Xanthobacter on various growth media, Golden Gate cloning, recombineering, CRISPR/Cas-based genome engineering, and data analysis.
Required background: basic skills in molecular cloning and biochemistry are advantageous.
Food from Air: Engineering effective protein secretion from hydrogen-oxidising bacteria. The secretion of protein from the cells is a way to avoid costly downstream processing in gas-based precision fermentations. Life cycle analysis and techno-economic analysis show that downstream processing has a huge impact on cost and sustainability. Protein secretion inherently separates the target protein from biomass, which simplifies downstream processing towards a pure protein product.
This project engineers the secretion machinery of hydrogen-oxidising bacteria for enhanced secretion.
Skills that will be learned: culturing Xanthobacter on various growth media, Golden Gate cloning, metabolic engineering, heterologous protein production, and data analysis.
Required background: basic skills in molecular cloning and biochemistry are advantageous.
Simplifying downstream processing in precision fermentation: Engineering genetically programmable product-release from yeast cells.  Precision fermentation involves the controlled cultivation of engineered microorganisms to biosynthesise specific target compounds. These systems enable the production of food-relevant molecules, such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and secondary metabolites, that are traditionally sourced from animals or plants, and are subsequently recovered and purified from the fermentation broth or biomass. Life cycle and techno-economic analyses indicate that downstream processing is a major contributor to both cost and environmental impact. A critical first step in downstream processing is cell lysis to release the product, which is typically achieved using mechanical methods that require costly, energy-intensive equipment.
In this project, we aim to develop a genetic system for programmable cell lysis, enabling engineered cells to undergo autolysis and release the product at the end of fermentation. This will be accomplished by testing a range of yeast virus–derived autolysis modules available in our laboratory. The project will also involve developing and validating assays to quantitatively measure the release of heterologous proteins.
Skills that will be learned: Yeast molecular biology, Golden Gate cloning, assay development, data analysis, metabolic engineering.
Required background: basic skills in molecular cloning are advantageous.
Further reading: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114449
Waste-to-value: Towards diverse feedstock usage using wild yeast varieties. Precision fermentation is a biotechnological process in which microorganisms are engineered to produce specific target molecules. It enables the manufacturing of food ingredients traditionally derived from plants or animals, such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and other metabolites. In a waste-to-value precision fermentation framework, low-value or waste streams (e.g., food processing residues, agricultural by-products, lignocellulosic hydrolysates, or industrial effluents) are repurposed as feedstocks for these microbial precision fermentations. As such, waste can be turned into food ingredients.
One challenge for this framework is identifying suitable microorganisms that can use diverse waste streams as feedstock and that could be employed in future precision fermentation processes. This project will start developing a structured approach to identify new microorganisms and microbial communities with useful feedstock-usage profiles. It involves 1. measuring carbon-source-usage capacities of a large set of natural yeast varieties using commercially available carbon-source arrays and micro-scale biomass fermentations, 2. Performing a literature survey to identify carbon sources common and specific to waste streams, and 3. Based on the survey outcomes, developing waste-stream-relevant carbon-source arrays for microbial testing.
Skills that will be learned: Yeast microbiology, high-throughput assay development, data analysis, waste-to-value precision fermentation.
Required background: basic skills in microbiology are advantageous.
Yeast-based crop biocontrol for a pesticide-free plant-based food production chain. Enabling the scaling of a plant-based food production chain increases demand for crop cultivation worldwide. Crop diseases caused by crop pathogens already pose a significant threat to global food security. Fungi are responsible for 80% of crop diseases, leading to over 20% loss in crop productivity annually. Although chemical fungicides have long been effective, their overuse along with crop monoculturing, climate change, and global trade has accelerated disease spread and resistance development. Moreover, broad-spectrum fungicides harm biodiversity and kill the good fungi in soil, which are required for effective plant growth. There is an urgent need for new, targeted, and functionally diverse biocontrol strategies to sustainably protect crops from fungal pathogens.
Environmental yeasts offer a diverse, yet underexplored potential for fungal biocontrol. They naturally inhibit fungal pathogens through secreted antifungal molecules such as siderophores, antifungal proteins and peptides (ribosomal and non-ribosomal), volatiles, and biosurfactants. Many act selectively against a narrow pathogen range, enabling targeted control that preserves beneficial microbiota.
This project develops a yeast formulation based on genetically modified yeast that expresses a cocktail of antifungal molecules. It involves combining multiple biosynthetic pathways and heterologous antifungal proteins in one yeast (or a yeast community), optimizing expression levels and testing antifungal capacity.
Skills that will be learned: Yeast molecular biology, Golden Gate cloning, assay development, data analysis, metabolic engineering.
Required background: basic skills in molecular cloning are advantageous.
Further reading: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167779924000672
Professor Tolga Bozkurt

Profile: https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/o.bozkurt 

Contact details: o.bozkurt@imperial.ac.uk 

 

Project title Description
Employing AI-guided approaches to discover and engineer plant disease resistance proteins Plant diseases cause significant global food crop losses, impacting both food security and agricultural trade, resulting in billions of dollars in losses annually. Genetic improvement of crops offers a sustainable solution to combat pathogens. However, pathogens' ability to adapt and evade plant immunity limits resistance breeding.



Our project involves an AI-guided synthetic biology approach to discover and engineer plant immune receptors with novel disease resistance specificities. Collaborating with our industrial partner Resurrect Bio, we'll create libraries of ligand-receptor complexes from plant-pathogen genomes, using high-throughput screening in model plants to enhance compatibility and further improve them through mutagenesis.



The goal is to establish an AI-guided pipeline for synthetic immune receptors that offer broad-spectrum pathogen resistance. This approach complements existing strategies, reducing reliance on pesticides and improving resistance gene cloning methodologies to combat plant pathogens more effectively.



Techniques:

Alphafold-multimer, Molecular cloning via Gibson Assembly/Golden Gate, protein-protein interactions (Co-immune precipitation and Yeast2hybrid), Transient gene expression in plants using Agrobacterium





Refs:

1. Wu et al., 2018 Science; DOI: 10.1126/science.aat2623

2. Contreras., 2023 Science Adv; DOI: DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg3861

 

 

Professor Tom Ellis

Profile: https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/t.ellis 

Contact details: t.ellis@imperial.ac.uk 

 

Project title Description
A Programmable Synthetic Protein ECM for future foods The ECM (extracellular matrix) is an often forgotten aspect of tissues and multiceullar systems, especially when it comes to cultivated meats and other alternative protein products. Using synthetic biology tools developed at Imperial for optimal secretion of proteins from yeast, this project will look to generate self-assembling protein-based materials that can act as an ECM for future foods. The project will require engineering and screening yeast cells for high secretion of proteins of interest and cultivating combinations of these yeasts in fermenters so that they collaborate to produce protein-based ECMs that can be tested with culture cells.