BioSoil, a synthetic biology initiative applied to the recovery of degraded agricultural soils, was born in the Synthetic Biology and Biosystems Control Lab (SB2CL) at UPV. This project, the result of the final degree work of several students, has been recognized as the winner of the Red Bull Basement Spain competition, which aims to promote innovative ideas with social and technological impact.
As a result of this victory, BioSoil will be the national representative in the program's global final, which will take place in Silicon Valley. There, the project will compete with other entrepreneurial and innovative technological initiatives of great impact.
“"Our goal is to apply synthetic biology to the design of microbial systems that can contribute, in the future, to the recovery of degraded agricultural soils."
Agricultural soil degradation is a major environmental challenge. The loss of fertility, contamination by harmful compounds, and reliance on chemical inputs necessitate more sustainable and effective solutions. BioSoil addresses this problem by moving away from conventional biology, combining molecular biology, biotechnology, biological systems modeling, and automatic control engineering to design microbial systems with an engineering logic.
The project is in the development and technical validation phase, with a pilot in the SB2CL laboratory. It has financial support from the Muévete por Valencia 2025 award from the Fundación Princesa de Girona and is part of the UPV's university entrepreneurship support ecosystem.
“"When young talent, applied research, and a culture of doing things connect, projects with real impact can emerge."
The uniqueness of BioSoil, which connects student training with its own approach to synthetic biology and automatic control engineering, has been key. The recognitions endorse the work carried out by all project members, who have already launched their website, biosoil.tech, to showcase their evolution and next development stages.
