Research at the intersection of biology and engineering has expanded our understanding of living systems and the many unique and valuable capabilities they possess. Scientists and engineers have now begun to harness this knowledge in new ways to address some of humanity's most pressing challenges. For example, using engineered biosystems we can create innovative healthcare solutions, enable more sustainable forms of agriculture, and support clean manufacturing methods. The emerging field of Engineering Biology aims to harness biology to build technologies for a healthy, sustainable, and equitable future. However, to date the lack of a rigorous biological engineering process has resulted in biosystems that are fragile, unpredictable, and difficult to scale when applied in real-world settings. Early pioneers in fields ranging from Aerospace to Information Technologies faced similar challenges when attempting to create robust and reliable systems. Such difficulties were oftentimes overcome using methods from systems and control engineering, which enabled rigorous approaches to the design, optimisation, and realisation of engineered systems, ultimately leading to dramatic economic growth and the creation of entirely new industries. To achieve an equivalent step-change in the engineering of reliable and robust biological systems, our programme will develop similar control and Artificial Intelligence systems in biotechnology - which we term feedback biocontrollers. These biocontrollers will be designed to operate within cells, between cells, and even to interact with non-biological entities (such as computers), thereby allowing researchers and innovators to efficiently and safely harness engineered biology in its many real-world applications. The robust engineering of biological control systems will be underpinned by the development of four "Engineering Pillars". These cover Theory (mathematical/AI approaches based on systems and control theory to model, design, analyse, and optimise biosystems), Software (computational tools able to translate this theory into conceptual designs), Wetware (experimental methods and biological parts to make designs a biological reality), and Hardware (to comprehensively test, scale-up, and deploy engineered biosystems). Each Pillar feeds directly into an integrated "Design-Build-Test-Learn" cycle rooted in systems and control engineering methods, which will accelerate academic and industrial development of new biotechnologies. Technologies developed in each Engineering Pillar will be integrated to address outstanding problems in three "Grand Challenge'' application domains: Biomedicine, Agriculture, and the Environment. Our team will work with industrial partners to generate world-leading solutions for each of these areas, demonstrating how biocontrollers can revolutionise scale-up and deployment of reliable engineered biotechnologies. The EEBio programme represents a timely investment in the new field of Engineering Biology which is set to play a defining role in the future of our society and the rapidly growing Bioeconomy. Our team of world-leading experts and up-and-coming early career researchers will create tools and technologies that are key to the effective engineering of biological systems - as observed in other, mature engineering fields - but which are not yet realised for Engineering Biology. EEBio brings together recent momentum across our team for rapid impact, while also supporting development of seminal ideas; in the near-term this will help address Grand Challenges we face today, while in the long-term it will provide the foundation for many bio-based solutions that will improve human life, agriculture, and the environment. Our work will accelerate responsible industrial exploitation, open up the field to other research communities (in the life, medical and social sciences), and support public confidence in the safety and reliability of Engineering Biology.

We propose the creation of an Engineering Biology Hub for Microbial Foods. The aim of the Hub is to harness the joint potential of two important scientific fields - engineering biology and microbial foods - in order to transform our existing food production system into one that is better for the environment, more resilient to climatic or political shocks, and that gives consumers healthier and tastier products. Background: Current food systems are unsustainable. Traditional farming and agriculture contribute significantly to climate change, and this is exacerbated by the alarming levels of food waste. Damage to the planet is mirrored by impacts on human health: a significant portion of the global population suffers malnutrition, while diseases linked to ultra-processed and high-calorie diets continue to rise. The way we produce and consume food has to change, and to change quickly if we are to have any chance of meeting targets for clean growth. Microbial foods - produced by microorganisms like yeast and fungi - offer a way to make this urgently needed transformation. Microbial foods are produced using different types of fermentation, with this process employed to produce large quantities of protein and other nutrients (biomass fermentation), to modulate and process plant and animal-derived products (traditional fermentation) or to produce new food ingredients (precision fermentation). Microbes grow rapidly, don't need large amounts of land or water to grow, and can use food by-products ('food waste') as feedstocks. In addition, microbial foods are less affected by adverse weather and can be produced locally - reducing transport costs, carbon footprint, and our dependence on food imports. Engineering biology applies engineering principles to biology, enabling scientists to build and manufacture novel biological systems and products. Tools from engineering biology have recently been applied to optimise microbial food production, and microbes can now be manipulated to be more productive, tastier and more nutritious. Applying engineering biology to microbial foods has the potential to radically change the way food is produced, and this creates an important and timely opportunity to address some of the most critical health and sustainability challenges of our time. The Hub: The first of its kind in the world, the new Hub will build on the UK's world-leading expertise and facilities in engineering biology and microbial foods. It will bring together academics, industrial partners, food organisations and consumers in a wide-ranging and ambitious programme of work that creates a clear route from scientific research to new food products on the shelf. At the heart of the Hub's activity will be eleven research projects, each addressing a separate challenge that needs to be overcome if large-scale production of diverse microbial food products is to be achieved. Project will use cutting-edge engineering biology methods, and will benefit from the Hub's additional focus on education, regulation and commercialisation, to ensure research outputs are translated into meaningful benefits. Overall, our objectives are : - To advance research into how engineering biology can be used to produce microbial foods - To develop new capabilities for developing microbial foods using engineering biology - To open new routes for this research to benefit human health and environmental sustainability Meeting these objectives will establish the Hub as an internationally-recognised reference for research, innovation and translation in the application of engineering biology to microbial foods - demonstrating UK leadership in this field, attracting the best global talent, and delivering more sustainable, productive, resilient and healthy food systems.