How synthetic biology helps extract more rubber from dandelions, produces fungal fashion

 


ushrooms may be trending in haute cuisine, but wearing them could be the next hot thing. It’s a fashion future Vayu Hill-Maini, PhD, assistant professor of bioengineering, and Xiaojing Gao, PhD, assistant professor of chemical engineering, are working to bring about with synthetic biology, an emerging field that combines principles from biology, engineering and chemistry to redesign or create organisms for useful purposes.

Think mRNA vaccines, biofuels and cell-cultured meat.

Hill-Maini and Gao are conducting research on the production of aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sound textiles made of fungi. “Hopefully, in two years, I’ll be wearing a cool fungal suit,” Hill-Maini said May 7 at Stanford’s second Synthetic Biology for Sustainability Symposium in Paul Brest Hall. “Don’t hold me to it, but that’s kind of the vision.”

Supported by the Stanford School of Medicine, the School of Engineering and the Doerr School of Sustainability, the symposium featured speakers from a range of departments across the university discussing ways synthetic biology can promote a sustainable world.

“At Stanford, where interdisciplinary studies and collaboration at all levels —between fields, between faculty, between students and trainees — are so highly valued, it makes a lot of sense that a core area of focus would be synthetic biology and its applications,” said Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at Stanford University.

Hill-Maini and Gao’s fungi project is one of several multidisciplinary projects to have been awarded seed grants by the Stanford Synthetic Biology for Sustainability grant program. The projects, several of which were discussed at the symposium, bring together researchers from different disciplines to create environmentally friendly, sustainable alternatives to things like fertilizers and building materials.

“About 20 years ago, when our bioengineering department was created, I think many engineers, even some bioengineers, didn’t realize how important bioengineering and synthetic biology in particular would be to the challenges that are facing our planet,” said Jennifer Widom, dean of the School of Engineering. (The bioengineering department is jointly operated by the schools of medicine and of engineering.)

She added, “Those challenges are really significant. They’re really complex. They require a multidisciplinary approach.”

Following are descriptions of some of the projects that have received Synthetic Biology for Sustainability seed grants.

Event Name : International Molecular Biologist Awards

Website Link: molecularbiologist.org

Contact Mail ID : support@molecularbiologist.org

Nomination Link  : https://molecularbiologist.org/award-nomination/?ecategory=Awards&rcategory=Awardee


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