NSF Awards RAPID Response Grant to Modular Genetics and University Collaborators to Develop Bio-Dispersants for Oil Spill Clean-Up

28 August 2010

The US National Science Foundation has awarded a one-year, $200,000 RAPID Response grant to synthetic biology company Modular Genetics, Inc. and scientists and engineers at Columbia University, Iowa State University (ISU) and the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center to support work on production and testing of bio-dispersants that can replace the chemical dispersants currently used for oil spill management.

In June, Modular and the Center for Crops Utilization Research at Iowa State University (ISU) announced their collaboration to develop a process aimed at manufacturing bio-dispersants from soybean byproducts. Modular has shown that a particular bacterium converts soybean hulls into a surfactant that can potentially be used to replace the toxic chemical dispersants that were used previous in the Gulf.

Modular and ISU are working on scaling up this process at ISU’s BioCentury Research Farm near Boone, Iowa. This natural fermentation process is analogous to the well-known process of yeast fermentation used to make beer. However, rather than converting sugar into beer, Modular’s bacterium converts soybean hulls into a bio-dispersant.

According to Professor Somasundaran, a dispersant expert from Columbia University, “use of bio-dispersants should stimulate the rate of natural microbial breakdown of the oil”. This approach is currently being tested in the laboratory.

Modular Genetics used its proprietary automated system for microbial strain engineering to rapidly develop the highly engineered microorganisms that can synthesize bio-dispersants.

Bio-dispersants are as effective as petrochemical dispersants, but are made from underutilized agricultural waste, are more readily biodegradable, and are expected to be less toxic, according to the company. The NSF funds will be used to produce and test these bio-dispersants.

A team at the ISU Center for Crops Utilization Research will use the natural process of fermentation to produce the bio-dispersants. They will deliver the bio-dispersants to a team at Columbia University who will measure the ability of each preparation to disperse oil samples collected from the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Bio-dispersants found to be effective will be evaluated by a team at the LSU AgCenter to determine their toxicity to organisms that are critical to the Gulf ecosystem and economy.

Modular Genetics had earlier been featured in a white paper issued by BIO (Biotechnology Industry Organization) documenting companies’ use of synthetic biology to produce alternative fuels and bio-based products. In the paper, BIO cites Dr. P. Somasundaran of the University Center for Surfactants (IUCS) at Columbia University as finding that Modular’s surfactant is 10-fold more effective than a similar commercially available surfactant.

Modular Genetics is one among a new breed of chemical companies that is using synthetic biology and other industrial biotechnology tools to produce useful chemicals that are biodegradable, less toxic to the environment, and made through cleaner processes with renewable raw materials. This particular project demonstrates how synthetic biology can enable companies to more rapidly engineer biological solutions to the most urgent problems of our time. The National Science Foundation's RAPID Response grant appropriately highlights this unique ability of synthetic biology.

—Brent Erickson, Executive Vice President of the Industrial and Environmental Section at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)

Resources

• Current Uses of Synthetic Biology for Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals