21ENGBIO_Metagenomic Engineering Platform for Bioremediation

人类对环境的影响是对地球和人类的最大威胁之一。外源性物质对自然环境的污染（例如，重金属、塑料、卤代化合物等）在遏制和补救方面造成重大挑战。例如，全球对塑料产品的需求已经使我们的星球进入了“塑料时代”。聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PET）塑料是饮料、食品和药品包装中最常用的塑料。虽然被认为是无毒和100%可回收的，一次性使用的塑料瓶使PET塑料成为100多个国家海滩清理中第三大收集的碎片，并且在陆地生态系统中无处不在。微生物和酶基塑料废物生物降解和回收利用提供了解决塑料生物回收利用的有前途的解决方案，因为使用了良性条件和潜在的成本-有效的环境友好的方法。因此，通过工程化强大的酶和微生物菌株来降解，吸收和同化PET，从而找到更好的PET生物转化和回收策略，具有极大的兴趣。该项目将寻求使用合成生物学方法开发一个平台，用于污染环境的生物修复，例如去除和同化塑料衍生的分解产物。这将提供新的方法作为净化和环境再生的手段。实施拟议的生物修复概念最终将需要在实地试验中证明安全性，与监管机构充分合作，并尽早和持续关注负责任的研究和创新。为了发展这个想法，我们将投入时间和精力来预测监管要求，可持续发展考虑因素和社会方面，包括潜在的社会问题。

Human impact upon the environment is among the biggest threats to the planet and humanity. Contamination of the natural environment with xenobiotics (e.g., with heavy metals, plastics, halogenated compounds etc) causes significant challenges in terms of containment and remediation. For example, the global appetite for plastic products has transitioned our planet into an era of the "Plastic Age". Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic is the most commonly used plastic in the packaging of beverages, food and pharmaceuticals. Although regarded as non-toxic and 100% recyclable, single use convenience-sized PET bottles have made PET plastic the third most collected debris in beach clean-ups in more than 100 countries and is overwhelmingly omnipresent in the terrestrial ecosystem.Microbial and enzyme-based plastic waste biodegradation and recycling offer promising solutions to address plastic bio-recycling due to the use of benign conditions and potential as a cost-effective environment-friendly approach. Therefore, there is great interest in finding better strategies for PET bioconversion and recycling through engineering robust enzymes and microbial strains for its degradation, uptake and assimilation. This project will seek to use Synthetic Biology approaches to develop a platform for bioremediation of contaminated environments, for example the removal and assimilation of plastic derived breakdown products. This will provide novel approaches as a means of decontamination and environmental regeneration.Implementation of the bioremediation concept as proposed will ultimately require demonstration of safety in field trials, full engagement with regulatory authorities, and early and ongoing attention to responsible research and innovation. To develop the idea, we will commit time and effort to anticipating regulatory requirements, sustainability considerations, and societal aspects including potential societal concerns.