In a world facing major environmental threats, Europe [and Spain as part of it] stands by its commitments from the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) and has agreed concrete measures in the European Green Deal: become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 while improving economic competitiveness. In this direction Spain submitted to the Commission its comprehensive National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 (PNIEC), in which it is intended to contribute by achieving a reduction of 21% in greenhouse gases, among other measures, in the next 10 years. In this context, enzymes undoubtedly have a central role as green catalysts operating efficiently at low energy needs and enabling novel functionalities. By tackling current scientific and technological limitations, MetaMorph will strive to develop a high-tech platform to perform the MetaMorphosis (or transformation) of enzymes (with original properties fitting industrial needs) into a new generation of artificial enzyme designs [PluriZymes] and BioHybrid catalysts with innovative structures and functionalities. They will enhance performances for processes and products with markedly reduced environmental impacts. The high-tech enzyme development platform will take advantage of our high capacity for enzyme bioprospecting, big biodata mining and analysis, disruptive machine learning, protein engineering, nano-biotechnology, upscale fermentation, and downstream processing. In addition to the interest in the enzyme market, MetaMorph will also bring to fruition the enormous potential of the developed innovative enzyme designs for use as catalysts to faster yield greener, more valuable, and sustainable products and processes on 5 market segments, detergents, textiles, cosmetics, fine chemicals, and agriculture, which combine a higher level of functionality with greater sustainability during their production, use or end-of-life: they respond to consumer and industry requests for greener and more efficient and innovative products. The strong collaboration with industry will be supported, thus making sure we take a holistic approach and ensure the results will be effective and relevant. They also contribute to the goals of ensuring innovation capacity and economic success, while reducing the environmental impacts of products and processes. MetaMorph will interact with a broad network of stakeholders, scientists, students and public in general, to ensure uptake of the developments and feedback insights towards policy-makers.

Of the 4 researchers involved in MetaMorph (1 PI and 3 members in the team), the gender ratio is 50% female and 50% male; the goal within this project is to maintain this percentage and reach after the recruitment stage also a minimum of 50% female researchers comprising PhDs and postdocs. A Gender, Ethics and Rights Task Force, which will be managed by Dr. M. Ferrer (MALE) and Dr. C. Coscolín (FEMALE), will be implemented to defend gender equality, to improve the position and progression of women in science, to take into account gender issues when project information is communicated through providing an extensive communication network to promote gender equality (e.g. taking into account gender issues and possible different behaviour during the communication of the project), to continuously evaluate how MetaMorph research affects gender issues, to collect statistics, and to solve problems or conflicts due to equality violations. The Gender, Ethics and Rights Committee will ensure that individuals of both genders, regardless of their racial, ethnic, cultural and educational backgrounds, will be integrated in all project steps inside and outside of the group. Finally, we would like to mention that we will also organize a public event “European Green Deal, PNIEC 2021-2030 and PID2020 aligned with Rights, Ethics, Equality” to reinforce our compromise with a society where ethics as well as gender equality, and rights whatever race, ethnic, and cultural and educational backgrounds are defended and integrated, that are priority National’s and EU’s objectives; this event will be organized, if possible, in the frame of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. All of this, along with MetaMorph’s efforts in education and training, will contribute towards Sustainable Development Goals SDG4.3-4.5/4.7, SDG5.1/5.5/5.c, SDG8.6, SDG9.5, SDG13.3.

The Group is following the recommendations of the CSIC and ICP equality committees:
https://icp.csic.es/es/igualdad/
https://www.csic.es/es/el-csic/ciencia-en-igualdad/igualdad-en-el-csic