Bacteria upcycle carbon waste into valuable chemicals: Engineered bacteria convert captured carbon dioxide into chemicals for fuels, fabric and cosmetics

Researchers engineered a strain ofbacteria to break down carbon dioxide and turn it into expensive industrial chemicals. The carbon-negative approach takes CO2 out of the atmosphere and doesn't use fossil fuels to make chemicals.

Lactose is broken down by thebacteria to make yogurt and beer. The researchers at the University and the technology company have harnessed the power ofbacteria to break down waste carbon dioxide to make valuable industrial chemicals.

In a new pilot study, the researchers selected a strain ofbacteria and then demonstrated its ability to convert CO 2 into acetone and isopropanol.

The new gas fermentation process removes greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and also avoids using fossil fuels, which are typically needed to generate acetone and IPA. The team found that the carbon-negative platform could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 160% if widely adopted.

The study will be published in a journal.

The accelerated climate crisis, combined with rapid population growth, pose some of the most urgent challenges to humankind, according to Michael Jewett, co-senior author of the book.

Jewett is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and director of the Center for Synthetic Biology. He co-led the study with two other researchers.

The global market for industrial bulk and platform chemicals is over $10 billion. The basis for one of the two World Health Organization-recommended formulas isIPA, which is widely used as a disinfectant and antiseptic. acetone is a solvent for many plastic and synthetic fibers.

Fossil resources lead to climate-warming CO 2 emissions.

A new gas fermentation process was developed to make these chemicals more sustainable. Clostridium autoethanogenum was engineered at LanzaTech. Synthetic biology tools were used to reprogram the bacterium to ferment CO 2 to make acetone and IPA.

Jewett said that the innovations were led by cell-free strategies that guided both strain engineering and pathway engineering.

The developed strains and process will translate to industrial scale according to the teams. The approach could be used to create streamlined processes for generating other valuable chemicals.

The discovery is a major step forward in avoiding a climate catastrophe. There is a global market of $10 billion. The development of acetone andIPA pathways will accelerate the development of other new products by closing the carbon cycle for their use in multiple industries.

Jewett is a member of a number of organizations.

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Journal reference

1. Fungmin Eric Liew, Robert Nogle, Tanus Abdalla, Blake J. Rasor, Christina Canter, Rasmus O. Jensen, Lan Wang, Jonathan Strutz, Payal Chirania, Sashini De Tissera, Alexander P. Mueller, Zhenhua Ruan, Allan Gao, Loan Tran, Nancy L. Engle, Jason C. Bromley, James Daniell, Robert Conrado, Timothy J. Tschaplinski, Richard J. Giannone, Robert L. Hettich, Ashty S. Karim, Séan D. Simpson, Steven D. Brown, Ching Leang, Michael C. Jewett, Michael Köpke. Carbon-negative production of acetone and isopropanol by gas fermentation at industrial pilot scale. Nature Biotechnology, 2022; DOI: 10.1038/s41587-021-01195-w