Revolutionary Engineered Bacteria Set to Tackle Multiple Organic Pollutants Simultaneously

A group of researchers from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology and Shanghai Jiao Tong University has successfully engineered a novel bacterial strain that can simultaneously break down five different types of organic pollutants. This breakthrough, reported by Xinhua News Agency, highlights the potential applications of this strain in cleaning up marine oil spills and treating industrial wastewater, with the study published in the journal Nature.

The researchers focus on saline wastewater, which predominantly comes from chemical manufacturing and oil and gas extraction operations. Such wastewater often contains a mix of harmful substances including organic materials, heavy metals, and toxic chemicals. While natural microorganisms possess the ability to break down certain pollutants, they are typically limited to targeting one or two specific contaminants at a time. Consequently, these microbes often struggle when presented with a combination of various pollutants, such as oil sludge alongside heavy metals and radioactive materials.

To overcome this limitation, the research team harnessed synthetic biology techniques, equipping the engineered bacteria with the capacity to decompose multiple pollutants simultaneously. They designed a strain with five artificial metabolic pathways, enabling the decomposition of aromatic organic pollutants, such as biphenyl, phenol, naphthalene, dibenzofuran, and toluene. Remarkably, this new strain managed to eliminate over 60 percent of each targeted pollutant within a mere 48 hours, achieving complete degradation of biphenyl and nearly 90 percent degradation of more complex pollutants like toluene and dibenzofuran.

According to lead researcher Dai Junbiao, this engineered bacterial strain holds significant potential for various ecological and environmental conservation efforts, including the cleanup of offshore oil spills, remediation of contaminated industrial sites, and biodegradation of microplastics.