Tillman Gerngross

Tillman Gerngross is a Professor of Bioengineering at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biology and Chemistry at Dartmouth. Gerngross has been an active inventor and to date his work has resulted in the founding of two companies ( [http://www.glycofi.com GlycoFi, Inc.] and [http://www.adimab.com Adimab, Inc.] ) and over a dozen U.S. and International patents. [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=0&f=S&l=50&TERM1=gerngross%2Btillman&FIELD1=INNM&co1=AND&TERM2=&FIELD2=&d=PTXT] [http://www.wipo.int/tools/en/gsearch.html?cx=000395567151317721298%3Aaqrs59qtjb0&cof=FORID%3A11&q=tillman+gerngross&sa=Search#1287]

Academic Background

Gerngross received a M.S. (Dipl. Ing.) in Chemical Engineering (1989) and later a [http://www.aiche.org/About/Centennial/Mini/Profiles/Gerngross.aspx Ph.D.] in Molecular Biologyfrom the Technical University of Vienna, Austria. Following his studies in Austria he became a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) in the laboratory of Arnold Demain (1989-91) and later joined the laboratory of Anthony Sinskey and Joanne Stubbe at MIT as a Postdoctoral Associate from 1991 to 1993. From 1993 till 1998 he headed the fermentation and process development group at Metabolix Inc., a small startup company in Cambridge, MA.

In 1998 he left industry to join the faculty at Dartmouth where he focused his research on protein engineering, glycoprotein engineering in yeast, and life cycle analysis of competing manufacturing technologies. In addition to this work, Gerngross’ lab also developed a novel protein expression system based on the industrial fermentation organisms "Ralstonia eutropha", formerly "Alcaligenes eutrophus". With certain model proteins, this expression system has shown to outperform "E.coli", the well proven workhorse of prokaryotic protein expression [cite journal |author=Srinivasan S, Barnard GC, Gerngross TU |title=A novel high-cell-density protein expression system based on Ralstonia eutropha |journal=Appl. Environ. Microbiol. |volume=68 |issue=12 |pages=5925–32 |year=2002 |month=Dec |pmid=12450812 |pmc=134445 |doi= |url=http://aem.asm.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=12450812] [cite journal |author=Barnard GC, Henderson GE, Srinivasan S, Gerngross TU |title=High level recombinant protein expression in Ralstonia eutropha using T7 RNA polymerase based amplification |journal=Protein Expr. Purif. |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=264–71 |year=2004 |month=Dec |pmid=15555942 |doi=10.1016/j.pep.2004.09.001 |url=] The work on "Ralstonia eutropha" was later expanded in collaboration with Prof. Wood at Princeton University to combine recombinant expression of proteins with the ability to purify them in vivo. [cite journal |author=Barnard GC, McCool JD, Wood DW, Gerngross TU |title=Integrated recombinant protein expression and purification platform based on Ralstonia eutropha |journal=Appl. Environ. Microbiol. |volume=71 |issue=10 |pages=5735–42 |year=2005 |month=Oct |pmid=16204482 |pmc=1265954 |doi=10.1128/AEM.71.10.5735-5742.2005 |url=] [cite journal |author=Banki MR, Gerngross TU, Wood DW |title=Novel and economical purification of recombinant proteins: intein-mediated protein purification using in vivo polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) matrix association |journal=Protein Sci. |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=1387–95 |year=2005 |month=Jun |pmid=15883185 |pmc=2253394 |doi=10.1110/ps.041296305 |url=]

In the late 1990s Gerngross became one of the fist vocal critics of biobased processes. By using life cycle assessment tools he demonstrated the shortcomings of bioplastics and similar biomass based technologies intended as a substitute for the petrochemical processes used today. His main findings showed that changing from petrochemical to biomass-based processes often worsens their environmental impact and increases the emissions of carbon dioxide when compared to conventional processes based on fossil fuel stocks. With the recent mandate to increase biofuel content in the United States this area of research has become increasingly important, but to date has failed to guide public policy in the United States. [cite journal |author=Searchinger T, Heimlich R, Houghton RA, "et al" |title=Use of U.S. croplands for biofuels increases greenhouse gases through emissions from land-use change |journal=Science (journal) |volume=319 |issue=5867 |pages=1238–40 |year=2008 |month=Feb |pmid=18258860 |doi=10.1126/science.1151861 |url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1151861]

Arguably, Gerngross' most important biotechnological contribution consisted of humanizing the glycosylation machinery in yeast to produce human therapeutic proteins, including antibodies, with fully human carbohydrate structures. [cite journal |author=Hamilton SR, Davidson RC, Sethuraman N, "et al" |title=Humanization of yeast to produce complex terminally sialylated glycoproteins |journal=Science (journal) |volume=313 |issue=5792 |pages=1441–3 |year=2006 |month=Sep |pmid=16960007 |doi=10.1126/science.1130256 |url=] Much of this work was conducted at Glycofi, Inc., a Lebanon, New Hampshire biotechnology startup company that was acquired in 2006 by Merck in a record-setting $400 million transaction. [http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/05/10/merck_to_buy_nh_biotech_in_record_bid/]

His work has been frequently cited in the popular press including The Times (London), CNN, Scientific American, BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3190951.stm] , The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/aug/29/highereducation.science] , The Economist, The New Scientist [http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4106] , Nature Biotechnology [cite journal |author=Dove A |title=Experts disagree over color of biomass |journal=Nat. Biotechnol. |volume=18 |issue=5 |pages=490 |year=2000 |month=May |pmid=10802610 |doi=10.1038/75341 |url=] and the Los Angeles Times. [http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jun/26/nation/na-grain26]

Industry Experience

In 2000 Professor Gerngross co-founded [http://www.glycofi.com Glycofi, Inc.] , and served as the company’s Chief Scientific Officer until its acquisition by [http://www.merck.com Merck and Company] in the spring 2006. In the fall of 2006 Dr. Gerngross joined SV Life Sciences as a [http://www.svlsa.com/pages/people/gerngross_tillman.html venture partner] where he advises on investments in the bio-therapeutics area. SV Life Sciences manages five investment funds with an aggregate capital of about $1.6 billion. In 2007 Dr. Gerngross co-founded [http://www.adimab.com Adimab Inc.] with [http://web.mit.edu/kdw-lab/ Prof. Dane Wittrup] at MIT, to develop a novel platform for the discovery of human antibodies in yeast. To date the company has raised two rounds of venture financing from [http://www.polarisventures.com/ Polaris Ventures] and [http://www.svlsa.com/ SV Life Sciences] , [http://sis.windhover.com/buy/abstract.php?id=2007900151] [http://www.xconomy.com/2008/03/25/adimab-scores-second-funding-round-in-less-than-a-year/] and employs about 40 people in Lebanon, NH.

Awards and Recognition

2004: GlycoFi is awarded Scientific America’s Top 50 Award for the most innovative manufacturing technology. [http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-2004-scientific-ameri&page=4]

2006: The readers of Nature Biotechnology select Gerngross amongst the most remarkable and influential Biotechnology personalities of the decade. [http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v24/n3/full/nbt0306-291.html]

2007: Gerngross and Glycofi co-founder Charles Hutchinson are named New Hampshire Entrepreneurs of the Year to honor their success with GlycoFi. [http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2007/06/01a.html]

References

Additional References

#cite journal |author=Gerngross T, Slater S |title=Biopolymers and the environment |journal=Science (journal) |volume=299 |issue=5608 |pages=822–5; author reply 822–5 |year=2003 |month=Feb |pmid=12574603 |doi=10.1126/science.299.5608.822 |url=
#cite journal |author=Gerngross TU |title=Can biotechnology move us toward a sustainable society? |journal=Nat. Biotechnol. |volume=17 |issue=6 |pages=541–4 |year=1999 |month=Jun |pmid=10385316 |doi=10.1038/9843 |url=

External Links

*
* [http://www.cnn.com/NATURE/9908/27/plastic.enn/index.html Plastics from plants called costly (CNN)]
* [http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/faculty/regular/tillmangerngross.html Tillman Gerngross Faculty Page at Dartmouth]
* [http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/gerngross/ Gerngross laboratory page]
* [http://www.glycofi.com/glycoproteins.htm About GlycoFi, Inc] .
* [http://www.adimab.com/technology.html About Adimab, Inc.]