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Tag: bioengineering

  • This Black Fungus Turns Plastic Waste Into Edible Ingredients

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    Fungi might just be the most impressive form of life on Earth. They can live almost anywhere, have both medicinal and poisonous qualities, and are—as new research suggests—capable of transforming industrial waste into useful compounds.

    Engineers with the German startup Biophelion have successfully developed a method to coax a yeast-like black fungus—Aureobasidium pullulans—into decomposing and converting plastic waste into new products. What’s more, during this process, the fungus consumes leftover carbon dioxide in plastic waste, using it to fuel itself and prevent the greenhouse gas from escaping into the atmosphere.

    The project emerged as a part of the “Circular Biomanufacturing Challenge” organized by Germany’s Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovations SPRIND.

    Fungal magic

    Of course, the fungus isn’t magically transforming the waste in one step. First, Aureobasidium pullulans—a hardy mold that will live anywhere, eat anything, and poop out various compounds—gobbles up the industrial byproducts. The fantastic digestive system of the fungus eventually excretes the waste in the form of three compounds key to producing useful new materials.

    A bioreactor that turns plastic waste into usable materials using fungi. © Tillmann Franzen/Leibniz-HKI

    According to the researchers, these compounds include pullulan, a tasteless, edible polymer already used in food production today; a polyester suitable for plastic packaging; and a lesser-known surfactant molecule that the team wants to use in 3D printing. In terms of its edible applications, pullulan is used as a food additive to provide bulk and texture, in edible films used for breath fresheners, and for making vegetarian-friendly pills. The team is still in the process of unpacking the exact mechanisms behind this process, but they are hopeful that they are onto something exciting.

    “Biophelion is specifically developing applications that are not yet conceivable today—we are breaking new ground with pullulan and our surfactant molecule in particular,” said Till Tiso, Biophelion co-founder and a microbiologist at Bielefeld University in Germany, in a release.

    Natural solutions for pollution

    Time will tell whether the startup’s technology could be the next big thing in material science. The method as is already offers a tantalizing solution for mass-produced plastic waste, however. The process itself is designed to be sustainable and environmentally friendly.

    The surfactant molecule in particular could be the ideal replacement for artificial surfactants—mass-produced chemicals in laundry detergents and dish soap—that too often pollute the environment. Overall, the researchers are excited to see how their science could help address some of the most pressing issues in today’s world.

    “There is often a gap between academic research and industrial implementation,” Tiso said. “But this time it is different. Here we can make the leap from academic research to industrial implementation ourselves.”

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    Gayoung Lee

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  • Scientists Gather to Confront the Doomsday Risks of ‘Mirror Life’

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    The prospect of creating “mirror life”—synthetic cells made from molecules that are mirror images of those found in nature—remains completely hypothetical. Still, the potential consequences are so dire that experts from around the world are gathering to discuss how to prevent the worst-case scenario.

    This week, scientists, engineers, policymakers, and other stakeholders will convene in Manchester, U.K., for Engineering and Safeguarding Synthetic Life 2025. This annual international conference explores the risks, challenges, and opportunities in researching and building synthetic life. Mirror life is emerging as a topic worthy of substantial discussion, as many scientists warn that creating such cells could pose unprecedented and irreversible risks to human health and the environment.

    “Pretty much everybody agrees” that mirror-image cells would be “a bad thing,” John Glass, a synthetic biologist at the J. Craig Venter Institute, told Nature. At the same time, some scientists argue that mirror-life research offers potential benefits that shouldn’t be ignored. The question is: How should experts regulate such research to maximize those benefits while minimizing risk?

    Why study mirror life?

    Most biological molecules that make up life on Earth—including all proteins, DNA, and RNA—point either left or right. These molecules are “chiral,” meaning they cannot be superimposed on their mirror image. Just as your right glove only fits on your right hand, chiral molecules can only interact with other molecules of compatible chirality.

    Mirror-image cells would be built from synthetic molecules with the opposite chirality of those found in nature. Whereas DNA is right-handed, mirror DNA would be left-handed, for example. Scientists are still decades away from synthesizing a complete mirror-image cell, but in recent years, they have created some mirror-image biomolecules, such as chirally inverted enzymes that can replicate and transcribe mirror-image DNA and RNA.

    One of the main incentives for creating mirror-image cells is that they could help scientists unravel how chirality emerged in nature, but the building blocks for these cells also hold promise for bioengineering and therapeutic drug discovery. Researchers believe the body’s enzymes and immune system would not readily recognize mirror-image biomolecules, allowing medicines made from them to remain more stable in the bloodstream. The FDA has already approved one such drug to treat chronic kidney disease.

    What are the risks?

    Even these early advancements worry some scientists. The same properties that make these synthetic biomolecules effective as therapeutics would likely allow mirror-image cells to spread uncontrollably throughout the body or nature.

    With the ability to evade immune systems, medicines, predation, and viral infection, experts have warned that mirror-image bacteria could gradually take over the environment. Scientists can only theorize about the consequences of this worst-case scenario, but there is strong evidence to suggest that mirror-image bacteria could catastrophically destabilize the environment and pose significant risks to human health.

    Some believe these risks warrant abandoning the prospect of creating mirror life. Others argue that well-placed restrictions and guidelines could allow research to progress without posing a threat to life as we know it. The question of how to move forward—if at all—will likely stir up a spirited debate at this week’s conference in Manchester.

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    Ellyn Lapointe

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  • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Professor Ting Lu Jointly Presented With €1 Million Future Insight Prize for Converting Waste Into Food

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Professor Ting Lu Jointly Presented With €1 Million Future Insight Prize for Converting Waste Into Food

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    URBANA, Ill., July 13, 2021 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Ting Lu, a professor of bioengineering at The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign received the 2021 Future Insight Prize. Established by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, the Future Insight Prize aims to stimulate innovative solutions to solve some of humanity’s greatest problems and to realize dreams for a better tomorrow in the areas of health, nutrition and energy. The prize comes with €1 million ($1.19 million) of research funding to incentivize winners whose work has enabled significant progress towards making this vision a reality.

    This year, the theme of the Future Insight Prize is food generation with a target to convert non-edible biomass to edible biomass. Lu shared the prize with Stephen Techtmann, an associate professor of biological sciences at Michigan Technological University. The duo were presented with the prize by Mrs. Anja Karliczek, the Federal Minister of Education and Research of Germany, and Dr. Belén Garijo, the Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, during the 2021 Future Insight Days conference. Lu and Techtmann are recognized for their work, which uses microbes and chemicals to break down end-of-life plastics and transform them into edible food.

    “The winners of this year’s Future Insight Prize have created a ground-breaking technology with the potential to generate a safe and sustainable source of food while reducing the environmental harms associated with plastic waste and traditional agricultural methods,” said Garijo. “We congratulate Ting Lu and Stephen Techtmann for their promising research, and hope that the Future Insight Prize will help to accelerate their efforts.”

    Food is the most essential need for humans. However, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, there are 690 million people around the world who suffer from hunger. This problem is exacerbated by reductions of arable land, population growth, and threats to food production such as from the COVID-19 pandemic. The other pressing challenge is plastic pollution. Plastics are pervasive in modern society and each year, the world produces 380 million tons of new plastics. The UN Environment Programme published that 79% of all plastic waste is accumulated in the natural environment, which causes serious adverse impacts on the environment, wildlife and human health. By converting plastic waste to edible food, Lu and Techtmann strive to tackle food insecurity and plastic pollution, the two grand challenges of our modern society, simultaneously.

    Lu’s research at Illinois focuses on microbial synthetic biology. “Combining experimentation with modeling, my lab harnesses engineered gene circuits to program microbial cell functionalities for a variety of novel biotechnological applications, such as food generation in this case,” said Lu.

    Techtmann is an environmental microbiologist who studies microbial communities in diverse natural environments. His lab studies how complex microbial communities can cooperate to perform functions of industrial interest.

    “Our complementary expertise allows us to take plastic waste and turn it into something valuable,” Lu said.

    The core of the duo’s technology is to utilize synthetic microbial consortia – a combination of natural and rationally engineered microorganisms – for efficient conversion of waste to readily edible food. In addition, they use synthetic biology approaches to augment probiotics to improve food quality by increasing nutritional contents, improving the resistance to foodborne pathogens and further adding personalized therapeutic benefits.

    “I’m truly honored to receive the prize,” Lu said. “I’m also deeply grateful to Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for creating such a visionary award and for providing resources and encouragement that allow us to advance the research.”

    With the prize, the duo plan to continue their research by enabling a fully biological solution for PET plastic conversion, augmenting the biosafety and health-promoting contents of food and further expanding the technology to additional plastics or other types of waste for food generation.

    “When I first started my own lab at Illinois, I wanted to work on something that’s both intellectually challenging and societally impactful. Food generation is such a topic,” said Lu, “As bioengineers, we are called to use science and technology in service of humanity by improving human health and nutrition. It’s a real privilege to use my knowledge and to partner with other researchers to tackle harrowing issues.” 

    Lu has a long-standing interest in food generation. In addition to this waste-to-food project, he has worked on the engineering of probiotic lactic acid bacteria that are involved in cheese and yogurt fermentation to reduce foodborne pathogens, increase food storage, and confer therapeutic effects. Lu has also participated in the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project, an international effort led by professors Stephen Long and Donald Ort at the University of Illinois and supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, and the UK Government’s Department for International Development. The goal of the RIPE project is to increase agricultural production worldwide by improving photosynthesis efficiency, thereby helping to reduce hunger and poverty.

    The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is renowned for innovation in food sciences. Established in 1876, the Morrow Plots are the oldest experimental crop field in America and research there was instrumental in gaining knowledge on crop rotation, soil nutrient depletion and the effect of synthetic and natural fertilizers. The Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), where Lu conducts some of his work, directly overlooks these plots that have been a source of inspiration for him.

    In addition to the department of bioengineering and IGB, Lu is affiliated with the department of physics, the Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

    About The Grainger College of Engineering

    The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is one of the world’s top-ranked engineering institutions, and a globally recognized leader in engineering education, research, and public engagement. With a diverse, tight-knit community of faculty, students and alumni, Grainger Engineering sets the standard for excellence in engineering, driving innovation in the economy and bringing revolutionary ideas to the world. Through powerful research and discovery, our faculty, staff, students and alumni are changing our world and making advances once only dreamed about, including the MRI, LED, ILIAC, Mosaic, YouTube, flexible electronics, electric machinery, miniature batteries, imaging the black hole, and flight on Mars. The world’s brightest minds from The Grainger College of Engineering tackle today’s toughest challenges. And they are building a better, cooler and safer tomorrow. Visit https://grainger.illinois.edu for more information.

    About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

    Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and electronics. Around 58,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene-editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2020, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of € 17.5 billion in 66 countries.

    The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark “Merck” internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company’s technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company.

    Media Contact
    The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
    Huan Song (Department of Bioengineering)
    huansong@illinois.edu

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    Source: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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