“Convergence of AI and biology”: Unilever and Arzeda cultivate record-breaking home care designer enzymes

01 Jun 2023 --- Beauty and personal care supplier Unilever and intelligent protein designer Arzeda have developed new enzymes with increased stability, performance and sustainability benefits for cleaning and laundry products. The achievement is touted to be five times faster than previous enzyme development.

“The progress that we have made in just 18 months is a testament to not only our collaborative relationship with Unilever but the impact that our Intelligent Protein Design Technology can make,” says Alexandre Zanghellini, Ph.D., CEO at Arzeda. 

“As we continue to scale up production, we are extremely excited and optimistic about this partnership's incredible potential for consumers and our planet.”

The partnership is expected to speed up Unilever’s commitment to reach net zero emissions from all its products by 2039.The new enzymes will enhance Unilever brands such as Persil, Seventh Generation, Comfort, Sunlight and Surf (Image Credit: Unilever).

“Game-changer” for home care
The new enzymes enhance the cleaning performance at low temperatures. They are critical stain-fighting components in household products and can halve the number of ingredients currently needed for effective cleaning, according to Unilever and Arzeda.

“As part of Unilever’s Clean Future strategy, we are investing in cutting-edge technologies to develop the next generation of sustainable, high-performance cleaning products,” comments Peter ter Kulve, president of Home Care at Unilever.

“The progress made in just 18 months with Arzeda’s Intelligent Protein Design Technology shows how the convergence of AI and biology is a game-changer for an industry like home care,” said Peter ter Kulve, Unilever Home Care president.

The new enzymes will enhance Unilever brands such as Persil, Seventh Generation, Comfort, Sunlight and Surf.

According to Unilever, enzymes are responsible for nearly all biological functions on Earth. They are key ingredients in cleaning and laundry products that aid in breaking down stains from fat, oils and protein chains on our laundry and surfaces.

Intelligent design
Arzeda used its Intelligent Protein Design Technology to develop and initiate the scale-up of the new enzymes. The technology combines computational design and artificial intelligence (AI) to create entirely new designer proteins and enzymes more efficiently and with less risk, describes the company. This technology was used to achieve the record time.

Under “computational protein design and AI,” Arzeda examines combinations of amino acids to create in-silico proteins and enzymes with specific functional properties depending on business needs.

After this, the company conducts DNA synthesis using its software and lab robotics that encodes the protein sequence designed by the algorithm. This is followed by precision lab testing of the new proteins using software.

To keep improving the protein design algorithms, Arzeda stores all generated data. Deep learning is applied to inform the next design. 

The proprietary technology creates new and improved proteins and enzymes that fight stains, use less household water and energy and replace petrochemical-derived ingredients in household cleaning products.The new enzymes enhance the cleaning performance at low temperatures.

Arzeda has been working with Unilever since July 2021 for responsible design, strain engineering and initial scale-up of the new enzymes.

According to the company, the production of the enzymes in real-world testing quantities has been completed and can be used within Unilever’s portfolio of Home Care brands.

Unilever in the news
Recently, Unilever invested €20 million (US$21.3 million) in a new personal care production facility in the Kyiv region of Ukraine, expressing its “long-term commitment to the country.” Construction will start this year, with the factory expected to open in 2024.

UK industry giants, universities and NGOs, including Unilever, Society of Chemical Industry, BASF and 12 others with a total net worth of £73 billion (US$87.9 billion), initiated a two-year program worth £5.4 million (US$6.5 million), aimed at converting industrial waste gasses into environmentally sustainable materials for use in consumer products.

L’Oréal linked up with Unilever and Kao, undertaking a new venture to craft new sustainable beauty ingredients derived from living organisms.

By Venya Patel

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