MORE | Spring 2024

Engineering a Microbial Chimera for Biosynthesis of Green Solvents

Chimeras are engineered organisms that can be used to produce valuable chemicals. Through genetic engineering, gene insertion and deletion, scientists are able to direct metabolic flux towards a chemical of interest. If engineered correctly, a microbial chimera can be used to synthesize biodegradable, recyclable, petrochemical-free solvents. This would alleviate the strain put on our environment by widespread petrochemical usage. Demonstrated in this project is the metabolic engineering and molecular biology approaches required to produce a green solvent producing microbial chimera.