The press releases and their complete interpretation (October 2026)
The press release of Techofest Global, Gujarat, with regard to one of our patented and pilot-scale-validated technologies “Bioethanol from human hair – Indian start-up's solution to rising prices of grains and sugar” was made between 18–20th October 2026. The technology belongs to a domain called the 5G bioethanol. It has been lucidly listed on our website as the IMPHA (In-vitro Metabolic-Engineered Pathway for Hair to Alcohol). The patented process involves the sequential enzymatic bio-transformation of human hair to an intermediate product(s)/compound(s), and their monomerization to subsequently be fermented to ethanol. Terms such as “saccharification” are not pertinent to our IMPHA process, in general, while it has been inadvertently misinterpreted by a section of readers. Given the optimized, high titer in-house production of the enzymes involved in the engineered process pipe-line, IMPHA’s economic viability, according to preliminary trials (~100 litre), is marginally higher than existing/reported 2G bioethanol technologies known hitherto. Large volume trials are underway to conclusively state the process’s techno-economic advantages. Utilization of hair as an ethanol feedstock does not only provide an alternate ethanol production process, but it also doubles as a bio-remediation/circular bio-economy-adapting process; every year ~1000 tonnes/1000 tons of salon waste do not find an end-of-life in a country like India. Hence, the 5G IMPHA provides a dually advantageous solution for the same.
What is the 5G SAFE?
The press-release quoted above also mentioned in a separate paragraph about the 5G SAFE, and its single-stage saccharification. 5G Single-stage Assimilation of Feedstock for Ethanol. The 5G SAFE is a proprietary process of Techofest Global, wherein any biomass rich in celluloses by-passes a pre-treatment step, and enzyme cocktail addition and recovery. Instead, we employ a bio-catalyst, which subjects the biomass to saccharification directly; the recovery of the bio-catalyst is ~85–90%. Readers have arrived at a confusion while understanding the differences between IMPHA and 5G SAFE. Nevertheless, these were already listed on Techofest Global’s website.
R&D Facility & Biomakerz Joint Venture
Joint-Venture lab facility at TICEL Biopark, Chennai, India. Specializing in recombinant protein expression, enzyme portfolio (KRED, ADH, GDH, TDC), food proteins (Brazzein, Thaumatin, BLG, BLF), high-value metabolites (SAM), and scale-up from 2-L to 300-L pilot scale.