Brunel University London Launches £13 Million Biotech Hub to Combat Pollution

Biosciences at Brunel is part of the UK’s first research centre aimed at making micro-organisms better at clearing up environmental messes like water pollution and plastic waste.

Led by microbiologist Dr Ronan McCarthy, the Brunel team is one of ten top institutions to form The Environmental Biotechnology Innovation Centre (EBIC), based at Bedford’s Cranfield University.

The group will design and develop micro-organisms – bacteria, fungi and viruses – to better break down hazardous and toxic pollutants, including hydrocarbons or polyfluoroalkyls. These substances are found in everyday things like furniture, textiles, adhesives and non-stick cooking surfaces.

“Micro-organisms hold huge potential to help tackle some of the major pollutants such as plastic waste, hydrocarbons and oil that threaten our environment,” said Dr McCarthy. EBIC allows some of the leading scientists in the UK to join forces to work together to enhance the ability of micro-organisms to sense and break down these pollutants. My research team will use synthetic biology approaches to engineer communities of bacteria, called biofilms, to capture and degrade these environmental pollutants more efficiently.”

UK Research and Innovation is pouring £13 million into setting up the five-year project with backing from its Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Working with industry, it will use cutting-edge techniques from synthetic biology, biotechnology and environmental engineering. Brunel’s team will focus on synthetic biology, using science to ‘rewire’ the genetic makeup of these useful microbes to make them better at breaking down pollutants.

EBIC, as a whole, aims to develop new ways to tackle three key areas:

1. Next-generation biosensing for environmental monitoring and surveillance
2. Bioremediation targeting environmental pollutants, promoting cleaner and healthier ecosystems
3. Enhanced wastewater and waste management to improve resource recovery, optimise treatment processes and reduce waste generation

The nine other universities in the centre are Cranfield University, the University of Essex, Bangor University, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Southampton, the University of East Anglia, the University of Glasgow, Heriot-Watt University and Newcastle University.

“They may be tiny, but micro-organisms have ‘superhero’ properties which give them enormous potential to have a positive impact on our world,” said EBIC leader Frederic Coulon.

The Cranfield University Professor of Environmental Chemistry and Microbiology added: “Using advanced technologies, the research team will create entirely new organisms or enhance the functions of existing ones. By doing this, we can design micro-organisms that are better suited for environmental tasks like converting waste into valuable resources.”