Enable better, more advanced bioremediation of petrochemical pollutants including plastics.

Engineering Biology

Environmental Biotechnology Challenge:

Expand tool sets for bioremediation and resource recycling.

Enable better, more advanced bioremediation of petrochemical pollutants including plastics.

Engineering Biology Objectives & Technical Achievements

Engineer microorganisms to rapidly degrade hydrocarbons after an oil spill.

Engineering DNA	Biomolecular Engineering	Host Engineering	Data Science
Engineer new genomic programs, such as combinations of synthetic auxotrophies, that increase the safety and reduce the risk of deploying engineered microbes in the field.	Synthesis of enzyme libraries to enable the identification of synthetic pathways with improved degradation performance. Engineer improved transporters for hydrocarbon uptake. Engineer catabolic enzymes with enhanced catalytic turnover. Engineer orthogonal versions of critical enzymes that require xenobiotic molecules to function.	Hosts with improved tolerance to chemical insults. Hosts that secrete engineered enzymes. Hosts that selectively secrete natural, biodegradable detergents (e.g., bile salt-like detergents) to facilitate hydrocarbon turnover.	Modeling of ecosystems (including ocean currents) to evaluate rapid deployment when necessary, such as post-oil spill.

Engineering DNA

Biomolecular Engineering

Host Engineering

Data Science

Engineer new genomic programs, such as combinations of synthetic auxotrophies, that increase the safety and reduce the risk of deploying engineered microbes in the field.

Synthesis of enzyme libraries to enable the identification of synthetic pathways with improved degradation performance.

Engineer improved transporters for hydrocarbon uptake.

Engineer catabolic enzymes with enhanced catalytic turnover.

Engineer orthogonal versions of critical enzymes that require xenobiotic molecules to function.

Hosts with improved tolerance to chemical insults.

Hosts that secrete engineered enzymes.

Hosts that selectively secrete natural, biodegradable detergents (e.g., bile salt-like detergents) to facilitate hydrocarbon turnover.

Modeling of ecosystems (including ocean currents) to evaluate rapid deployment when necessary, such as post-oil spill.

Engineer microorganisms to degrade recalcitrant plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Engineering DNA	Biomolecular Engineering	Host Engineering	Data Science
Engineer new genomic programs, such as combinations of synthetic auxotrophies, that increase the safety and reduce the risk of deploying engineered microbes in the field.	Synthesis of enzyme libraries to enable the identification of synthetic pathways with improved degradation performance. Engineer enzymes that convert xenobiotic plastics into functional metabolic intermediates.	Hosts that secrete engineered enzymes.	Predictive modeling of ecosystem-wide ramifications of engineered-organism deployment into polluted ecosystems (including secondary/downstream and long-term effects) to evaluate regions of highest need and viability for organism deployment.