HelioBiotec® platform

The HelioBiotec partnership platform was initiated in 2008 at CEA Cadarache with the aim of exploring the potential of microalgae for the production of 3rd generation biofuels through a biotechnology partnership platform. This project was the subject of €2M CPER funding which enabled the equipment of a high-tech platform inaugurated in 2011 and hosted by the Bioenergies and Microalgae (EBM) team. State-of-the-art equipment for high-throughput screening of microalgae strains (culture chambers, transplanting robot, flow cytometers, fluorescence imaging, etc.), the characterisation of their productivity (a fleet of instrumented photobioreactors, on-line gas analysis) or their biochemical and physiological characteristics (fluorescence microscopy, biochemical and biophysical analyses) was acquired.

A particular effort has been focused on the development of lipidomics through the acquisition of various high performance devices (HPTLC, GC-MS, GC-MS thermo-desorber, UPLC-MS-qTOF…), lipids representing a target of choice for applications in the fields of biofuels, nutrition and neutraceuticals. In ten years, the attractiveness, visibility and dynamism created by HelioBiotec have enabled the small team of 7 people who initiated the project to triple its workforce, which now stands at more than 20 people, 12 permanent staff (CEA and CNRS) and about ten non-permanent staff (PhDs, post-docs or fixed-term contracts). Numerous academic and industrial partnerships have been established, and regional, national and European funding has made it possible to bring innovative research projects to life. Since 2016, HelioBiotec has been part of the European IBISBA network.

Facilities

The HelioBiotec platform is comprsed of two technical platforms: “Microalgae culture” – Photobioreactors, culture chambers, transplanting robot, flow cytometers, membrane inlet mass spectrometry; and “Lipid analysis” – GC-MS, GC-MS/FID, HP-TLC, and LC-MS/MS.

Opening

The platform operates in a collaborative mode within the framework of academic or industrial projects. It is part of the European H2020 IBISBA network. To initiate a partnership, please contact the platform manager.