Engineered Algae Could Filter Microplastics from Water
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Researchers at the University of Missouri have developed a genetically modified strain of algae designed to capture microplastics from contaminated water. The algae produce a natural oil that makes them repel water, causing microplastics to stick to them and form clumps that sink for easier collection. The long-term goal is to clean waterways and potentially recycle the collected plastic.
Facts First
- Researchers engineered algae to produce limonene, a natural oil that changes the algae's surface to repel water.
- The water-repellent algae attract and stick to microplastics, forming clumps that sink for easier collection.
- The modified algae also grow in wastewater and absorb excess nutrients while cleaning the water.
- Current wastewater treatment often fails to remove microplastics, allowing them to pass into drinking water and ecosystems.
- The research aims to clean waterways and recycle collected plastic into safer bioplastic materials.
What Happened
Researchers at the University of Missouri... have created a genetically modified strain of algae designed to capture microplastics from water. In a recent study, the team engineered the algae to produce limonene, a natural oil. This production changes the algae's surface properties to make it repel water. Because microplastics are also water repellent, the particles stick to the algae when they meet in contaminated water. This interaction forms clumps that sink to the bottom, creating a dense biomass layer that can be collected and removed. The study, titled 'Remediation and upcycling of microplastics by algae,' was published in Nature Communications.
Why this Matters to You
Microplastics are pollutants found in environments including ponds, lakes, rivers, wastewater, and the fish consumed by humans. Most current wastewater treatment plants can only remove large plastic particles, allowing microplastics to pass through into drinking water and ecosystems. This new method could potentially lead to more effective filtration of your drinking water and reduce plastic pollution in the environment and food chain. If scaled successfully, it might also create a pathway to recycle captured plastics into safer materials.
What's Next
The researchers' long-term goal is to clean waterways and recycle the collected plastic into safer bioplastic materials, such as composite plastic films. Dai's lab grows algae inside large tank bioreactors, including an existing 100-liter system nicknamed 'Shrek' used to process industrial flue gas. This suggests the technology could be integrated into larger-scale water treatment or pollution control systems. Further development and testing will be needed to determine how effectively this method can be deployed at scale.