We were awarded the prize for the Best Bioremediation Project, addressing a significant contemporary issue. Mixed plastics are major pollutants affecting wildlife and ecosystems. Existing techniques primarily target single-polymer plastics, such as PET bottles and PE bags. However, many products consist of multiple plastic types or are improperly sorted, resulting in mixed plastic waste. With ReMixHD, we have developed an innovative biological platform capable of sustainably upcycling mixed plastic waste, employing genetically modified Pseudomonas fluorescens. Our approach involves a co-culture, where a helper strain is responsible for mixed plastic degradation, and a main strain utilizes its intermediates as a carbon source to produce a recombinant product. ReMixHD aims to establish the first plastic degradation regulatory operon. Additionally, we aspire to designate P. fluorescens as a new chassis organism for bioremediation and create a cutting-edge genome-scale metabolic model to enable dynamic co-culture modeling
We were recognized as one of the TOP 10 Teams in the Overgraduate category, alongside numerous other teams presenting outstanding projects covering various topics. We take pride in this achievement as it highlights the exceptional quality of our work across different facets of the project, encompassing Wetlab research, Human Practices, and Drylab contributions.
We have developed a novel approach to mixed plastic recycling, ReMixHD, paving the way toward sustainable development and environmental stewardship. Our project not only diminishes the ecological footprint of plastic waste but also actively aligns with the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We have targeted four SDGs: Goal 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure; Goal 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities; Goal 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production; and Goal 13 - Climate Action. We contributed to the attainment of these goals by adopting a proactive approach in our work. To achieve this, we reached out to stakeholders in eight countries to gain a better understanding of the challenges associated with mixed plastic waste. This outreach is particularly relevant to our design of the ReMix project, emphasizing our commitment to gathering insights and collaborating on a global scale. Through discussions with diverse stakeholders, we gathered information that we incorporated into our design to develop the project, aiming to reduce the substantial amount of municipal solid waste and address inequalities in terms of decent living conditions worldwide. Find out more about our work on our Sustainable Development Goals page.
We achieved excellence in synthetic biology by introducing a custom-engineered operon that plays a pivotal role in advancing the frontiers of plastic bioremediation in ReMixHD. This operon orchestrates the smart co-culture of Pseudomonas fluorescens, enhancing the efficiency of plastic waste degradation. The engineering ingenuity involves two key strains: a helper strain proficient in depolymerizing polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate, and a main strain adept at utilizing intermediates as a carbon source to synthesize a recombinant product. The dynamic regulation of the bacteria co-culture is meticulously achieved through the operon, which exerts precise control over the growth of the helper strain by being operon-dependent on plastic degradation. To sense the breakdown product of polyethylene (PE), we employ the alkane sensor, AlkS-V760E/PalkB, to express a growth factor for P. fluorescens. Simultaneously, a novel engineered XylS-K38R-L224Q/Pm expression system is utilized to recognize the breakdown product of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), terephthalic acid. This recognition activates the sRNA repressor system, effectively downregulating the growth of the helper strain. For more detailed information, please visit our Results page and the Registry page for the Part BBa_K4757999
