In a new pilot study, the researchers selected, engineered and optimized a bacteria strain and then successfully demonstrated its ability to convert CO2\u00a0<\/sub>into acetone and isopropanol (IPA).<\/p>\n Not only does this new gas fermentation process remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, it also avoids using fossil fuels, which are typically needed to generate acetone and IPA. After performing life-cycle analysis, the team found the carbon-negative platform could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 160% as compared to conventional processes, if widely adopted.<\/p>\n The\u00a0study was published today<\/a>\u00a0(Feb. 21) in the journal Nature Biotechnology.<\/p>\n \u201cThe accelerating climate crisis, combined with rapid population growth, pose some of the most urgent challenges to humankind, all linked to the unabated release and accumulation of CO2\u00a0<\/sub>across the entire biosphere,\u201d said Northwestern\u2019s\u00a0Michael Jewett<\/a>, co-senior author of the study. \u201cBy harnessing our capacity to partner with biology to make what is needed, where and when it is needed, on a sustainable and renewable basis, we can begin to take advantage of the available CO2\u00a0<\/sub>to transform the bioeconomy.\u201d<\/p>\n Jewett is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern\u2019s\u00a0McCormick School of Engineering<\/a>\u00a0and director of the\u00a0Center for Synthetic Biology<\/a>. He co-led the study with Michael Koepke and Ching Leang, both researchers at LanzaTech.<\/p>\n Necessary industrial bulk and platform chemicals, acetone and IPA are found nearly everywhere, with a combined global market topping $10 billion. Widely used as a disinfectant and antiseptic, IPA is the basis for one of the two World Health Organization-recommended sanitizer formulas, which are highly effective in killing the SARS-CoV-2 virus. And acetone is a solvent for many plastics and synthetic fibers, thinning polyester resin, cleaning tools and nail polish remover.<\/p>\n While these chemicals are incredibly useful, they are generated from fossil resources, leading to climate-warming CO2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions.<\/p>\n To manufacture these chemicals more sustainably, the researchers developed a new gas fermentation process. They started with Clostridium autoethanogenum, an anaerobic bacterium engineered at LanzaTech. Then, the researchers used synthetic biology tools to reprogram the bacterium to ferment CO2<\/sub>\u00a0to make acetone and IPA.<\/p>\n By harnessing our capacity to partner with biology to make what is needed, where and when it is needed, on a sustainable and renewable basis, we can begin to take advantage of the available CO2\u00a0<\/sub>to transform the bioeconomy.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael Jewett \u201cThese innovations, led by cell-free strategies that guided both strain engineering and optimization of pathway enzymes, accelerated time to production by more than a year,\u201d Jewett said.<\/p>\n The Northwestern and LanzaTech teams believe the developed strains and fermentation process will translate to industrial scale. The approach also could potentially be applied to create streamlined processes for generating other valuable chemicals.<\/p>\n \u201cThis discovery is a major step forward in avoiding a climate catastrophe,\u201d said Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech CEO. \u201cToday, most of our commodity chemicals are derived exclusively from new fossil resources such as oil, natural gas or coal. Acetone and IPA are two examples with a combined global market of $10 billion. The acetone and IPA pathways developed will accelerate the development of other new products by closing the carbon cycle for their use in multiple industries.\u201d<\/p>\n Jewett is a member of the\u00a0Chemistry of Life Processes Institute<\/a>,\u00a0Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University<\/a>.<\/p>\n The study, \u201cCarbon-negative, scaled-up production of acetone and isopropanol by gas fermentation,\u201d was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (award numbers\u00a0DE-EE0007566 and CRADA\/NFE-16-06364), DOE Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research Division, Genomic Science Program (award numbers DE-SC0018249 and FWP ERKP903), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Program.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Jewett250.jpg\")
\nsynthetic biologist<\/p><\/blockquote>\n