Safer production processes through reduced toxin use and toxic byproduct synthesis.

Engineering Biology

Industrial Biotechnology Challenge:

Scalable production of novel and existing products that are more sustainable and economically- and environmentally-friendly.

Safer production processes through reduced toxin use and toxic byproduct synthesis.

Engineering Biology Objectives & Technical Achievements

Risk, safety, and life-cycle assessments for bio-based manufacturing processes.

Engineering DNA	Biomolecular Engineering	Host Engineering	Data Science
Safe, reliable, and efficient delivery vectors for gene editing agents.	Engineered biosensors for toxic compounds.	Metabolic pathway engineering to prevent synthesis of toxic byproducts and/or to metabolize toxins.	High-throughput screening approaches to assess toxin production. Development of holistic models of risk/safety with respect to manufacturing process (including employees), environment, and consumers. Develop new and better life cycle assessment models for biomolecule production.

Engineering DNA

Biomolecular Engineering

Host Engineering

Data Science

Safe, reliable, and efficient delivery vectors for gene editing agents.

Engineered biosensors for toxic compounds.

Metabolic pathway engineering to prevent synthesis of toxic byproducts and/or to metabolize toxins.

High-throughput screening approaches to assess toxin production.

Development of holistic models of risk/safety with respect to manufacturing process (including employees), environment, and consumers.

Develop new and better life cycle assessment models for biomolecule production.

Incentives and regulations, when needed, to ensure the safety of those involved in production and of consumers, as well as overall process sustainability.

Engineering DNA	Biomolecular Engineering	Host Engineering	Data Science
			Development of holistic models of risk/safety with respect to manufacturing process (including employees), environment, and consumers. Undertake life cycle assessment to determine efficiency, sustainability, and feasibility of protocols and processes.

Engineering DNA

Biomolecular Engineering

Host Engineering

Data Science

Development of holistic models of risk/safety with respect to manufacturing process (including employees), environment, and consumers.

Undertake life cycle assessment to determine efficiency, sustainability, and feasibility of protocols and processes.

Engineer processes, pathways, and enzymes to minimize waste production.

Engineering DNA	Biomolecular Engineering	Host Engineering	Data Science
Ability to synthesize, edit, assemble, and deliver many genes and regulatory components in a single cell. Ability to edit genomes of diverse hosts, including microbes, fungi, and protists.	Assembled sets of proteins that can completely degrade sustainable feedstocks. Regulatory components (including sensors and networks) that program the system to adapt to the feedstock, intermediates, and side products.	Engineered microbial consortia with predictable composition, dynamics, and function. Metabolic pathway engineering to prevent synthesis of toxic byproducts and/or to metabolize toxins.	Novel analytics tools to enable prediction and manipulation of holistic microbial ecosystem function by incorporating both biological and environmental data.

Engineering DNA

Biomolecular Engineering

Host Engineering

Data Science

Ability to synthesize, edit, assemble, and deliver many genes and regulatory components in a single cell.

Ability to edit genomes of diverse hosts, including microbes, fungi, and protists.

Assembled sets of proteins that can completely degrade sustainable feedstocks.

Regulatory components (including sensors and networks) that program the system to adapt to the feedstock, intermediates, and side products.

Engineered microbial consortia with predictable composition, dynamics, and function.

Metabolic pathway engineering to prevent synthesis of toxic byproducts and/or to metabolize toxins.

Novel analytics tools to enable prediction and manipulation of holistic microbial ecosystem function by incorporating both biological and environmental data.

Footnotes

This Aim also includes reducing downstream toxins from degradation of materials after use.