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Excellent Science INNOVATION
Novel family of materials based on conductive proteins
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Market Maturity: Business Ready
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Market Creation Potential
This innovation was assessed by the JRC’s Market Creation Potential indicator framework as addressing the needs of existing markets and existing customers. Learn more
Women-led innovation
A woman had a leadership role in developing this innovation in at least one of the Key Innovator organisations listed below.
Go to Market needs
Needs that, if addressed, can increase the chances this innovation gets to (or closer to) the market incude:
  • Prepare for Market entry
  • Secure capital
  • Scale-up market opportunities
Location of Key Innovators developing this innovation
Key Innovators
UN Sustainable Development Goals(SDG)
This innovation contributes to the following SDG(s)
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 9
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

The UN explains: "Investments in infrastructure – transport, irrigation, energy and information and communication technology – are crucial to achieving sustainable development and empowering communities in many countries. It has long been recognized that growth in productivity and incomes, and improvements in health and education outcomes require investment in infrastructure."

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 12
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

The UN explains: "Sustainable consumption and production is about promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and providing access to basic services, green and decent jobs and a better quality of life for all. Its implementation helps to achieve overall development plans, reduce future economic, environmental and social costs, strengthen economic competitiveness and reduce poverty.

The EU-funded Research Project
This innovation was developed under the Horizon 2020 project e-Prot with an end date of 31/08/2025
  • Read more about this project on CORDIS
Description of Project e-Prot
Proteins—the building blocks of natural systems—offer advantageous structural properties for the design of functional materials and present rare and modest but appealing electrical conduction features. The e-Prot project vision encompasses the rational design of efficient conductive protein systems (e-Ps), and the fabrication of all-protein based conductive structures and materials, targeting a radical change in design of "green" electronic and energy storage devices. This breakthrough relies on a multidisciplinary scientific approach that combines i) a profound understanding of protein building blocks, biomolecular design principles, state-of-the-art synthetic biology, and chemical tools, to systematically fabricate new protein materials; and ii) cutting-edge characterization techniques and computational models that will provide an unprecedented fundamental understanding of protein conduction thus building a solid foundation for their technological implementation. Selected engineered conductive proteins will be upscaled and implemented as smart ink-based conductors and ionic electrolytes in energy storage devices, as a first demonstration of the feasibility of an inherently biocompatible and fully sustainable all-protein (e-Prot) bioelectronics platform. This groundbreaking approach surpasses current bio-inspired technologies, transforming the emerging research field of protein-based bioelectronics, currently still limited to basic research, to a new level of sophistication facilitating real-world applications.

Innnovation Radar's analysis of this innovation is based on data collected on 30/04/2024.
The unique id of this innovation in the European Commission's IT systems is: 112664