How synthetic biology can help bioremediation.
How synthetic biology can help bioremediation.
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2020 Aug 14;58:86-95
Authors: Rylott EL, Bruce NC
Abstract
The World Health Organization reported that "an estimated 12.6 million people died as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment in 2012, nearly 1 in 4 of total global deaths". Air, water and soil pollution were the significant risk factors, and there is an urgent need for effective remediation strategies. But tackling this problem is not easy; there are many different types of pollutants, often widely dispersed, difficult to locate and identify, and in many cases cost-effective clean-up techniques are lacking. Biology offers enormous potential as a tool to develop microbial and plant-based solutions to remediate and restore our environment. Advances in synthetic biology are unlocking this potential enabling the design of tailor-made organisms for bioremediation. In this article, we showcase examples of xenobiotic clean-up to illustrate current achievements and discuss the limitations to advancing this promising technology to make real-world improvements in the remediation of global pollution.
PMID: 32805454 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Biology - Category: Biochemistry Authors: Rylott EL, Bruce NC Tags: Curr Opin Chem Biol Source Type: research
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