While much of the work carried out in the lab focuses on fundamental questions, we are very aware of the role microbes can play in improving our lives, in particular our environment.
The original model synthetic community that we have been working with was originally designed by Ian Thompson’s lab in Oxford to degrading Metal Working Fluids, which are a major industrial contaminant [1]. In 2010 alone, 610’000 tons of MWF and other machining fluids were consumed, and these fluids represent one of the main causes of environmental pollution in the manufacturing industry [2]. Understanding how to manipulate the four species within this ecosystem and designing new species combinations has allowed us to optimise the efficiency of degrading these pollutants [3]. We also now understand that over evolutionary time-scales, the community loses its ability to degrade the pollutant and perhaps having a single species alone would be more beneficial [4].
We are currently exploring other interesting applications for which we can design new communities from scratch using our approaches of artificial selection and community control. One such project that we have collaborated on is the degradation of bioplastics.
References
1. C. van der Gast, I. Thompson (2014) US patent 8,703,475 B2.
2. E. Benedicto, D. Carou, E. M. Rubio (2017) Procedia Eng.
3. F. I. Arias-Sánchez, B. Vessman, A. Haym, G. Alberti, S. Mitri (2023) bioRxiv.
4. P. Piccardi, E. Ulrich, M. Garcia-Garcerà, R. Di Martino, S. E. A. Testa, S. Mitri (in press) Evolution Letters.