Sustainable Microbial Manufacture of Adipic Acid from Industrial and Post-Consumer Waste

许多对我们日常生活至关重要的小分子（例如药品、服装、化妆品、材料等）目前都是通过工业过程从日益减少的化石燃料中制造出来的，这对全球气候变化有重大影响。2020年创纪录的大气二氧化碳水平和2050年雄心勃勃的净零碳排放目标意味着，现在迫切需要可持续的制造解决方案，为子孙后代减轻该行业对地球的环境负担。MICROSYN项目将独特地将尖端的现代生物工程与绿色化学相结合，为利用造纸厂（木质素）和消费者使用（塑料瓶）产生的大量废物可持续生产尼龙前体己二酸创造变革性的解决方案。这将消除目前用于制造这种化合物的石化方法所产生的碳排放（目前为2000万吨/年，占全球人类相关二氧化碳/氧化亚氮排放量的5-10%），并创造循环生物过程，避免焚烧现有废物流（释放更多的二氧化碳），同时也解决了全球塑料废物危机。该项目将低价值废物视为未充分利用的富碳原料，并采用现代合成生物学技术，通过新型生物制造工艺将这些丰富的可持续资源转化为高价值化学品。

Many of the small molecules essential to our every-day lives (e.g. pharmaceuticals, clothing, cosmetics, materials, etc.) are currently manufactured from diminishing fossil fuels via industrial processes that contribute significantly to global climate change. Record high atmospheric CO2 levels in 2020 and ambitious net-zero carbon emission targets by 2050 mean that urgent sustainable manufacturing solutions are now required to reduce the environmental burden of this industry on our planet for future generations. The MICROSYN project will uniquely combine cutting-edge modern biological engineering with green chemistry to create transformative solutions to the sustainable manufacture of the nylon-precursor adipic acid from abundant waste generated by the paper-mill industry (lignin) and consumer use (plastic bottles). This will eliminate carbon emissions from the current petrochemical method used to make this compound (currently >20,000,000 ton/year; 5-10% of all human-associated CO2/N2O emissions worldwide) and create circular bioprocesses that avoid the incineration of existing waste streams (releasing further CO2), whilst also addressing the global plastic waste crisis. The project recognizes low-value waste as an underutilized carbon-rich feedstock, and employs modern synthetic biology to transform these abundant and sustainable resources into a high-value chemical via novel biomanufacturing processes.