Techtmann\u2019s groundbreaking research has been awarded the 2021 Future Insight Prize<\/a> by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany<\/a>, a leading science and technology company, along with research collaborator Ting Lu, professor of bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Techtmann is an environmental microbiologist who studies microbial communities in diverse natural environments. His lab studies how complex microbial communities can cooperate to perform functions of industrial interest \u2014 in this case, converting waste into safe and edible food while also tackling the issue of plastic pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe use engineered natural organisms to break down the plastics and non-edible plant biomass to convert into food,\u201d Techtmann said. \u201cIt is such an honor to be awarded this prize. This prize will allow us to pursue high-risk and high-reward lines of research that will enable us to move this work forward more quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The research was initially funded<\/a> by a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) cooperative agreement award for $7.2 million over four years to refine a method of chemical and high heat (pyrolysis) deconstruction of plastic waste into protein powder and lubricants. Other researchers working on the project, titled BioPROTEIN (Biological Plastic Reuse by Olefin and Ester Transforming Engineered Isolates and Natural Consortia), are Michigan Tech chemical engineers Rebecca Ong<\/a> and David Shonnard<\/a> and materials engineer Joshua Pearce<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe foundation of this research greatly benefited from DARPA\u2019s investment,\u201d Techtmann said. \u201cThe grant from Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany lets us build off that and enables us to explore other ways to engineer in health benefits by working with probiotics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though Techtmann currently focuses on understanding which microbial communities might be best-suited to the task of transforming the inedible, the project builds on his research into the provenance of microbes by studying their biosignatures in bilge water<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first step in converting plastic and inedible plant wastes to protein powder is to depolymerize the wastes into more biodegradable compounds \u2014 that is, break the polymer into its monomers, or individual, components. The current process converts plastic into compounds that look somewhat like oil using heat and a reactor that can deconstruct plastic\u2019s polymer chains. The oil-like compounds are then fed to a community of oil-eating bacteria Techtmann\u2019s lab has been studying. The bacteria flourish on their oily diet, producing more bacterial cells, which are about 55% protein. This lets the team quickly convert plastic to protein.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUsing Microbes and Heat to Transform Plastic into Protein<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Grants and Funding<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Beyond Garbage In, Garbage Out<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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