Reinventing life
Imagine being able to build life from scratch. It might sound like science fiction, but synthetic biologist and new Academy Fellow Professor Ian Paulsen believes we can. He鈥檚 working on engineering synthetic organisms that could help create fuel and plastic out of rubbish鈥攁s well as researching new tools for beating superbugs.
Synthetic biology draws on some of the biggest advances in biology, genome sequencing and computing in recent decades. Paulsen describes it as 鈥渁 new science that combines an engineering mindset with molecular biology techniques鈥�. In practice, synthetic biology projects often have a simple goal. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to design and build new organisms to do things that natural organisms can鈥檛 do,鈥� says Paulsen.
Yeast 2.0
The natural organism that Paulsen is aiming to reinvent is brewer鈥檚 yeast. This single-celled organism converts sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide, making it essential for fermented products like bread, wine and beer (and some might argue for human existence itself).
Based at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology at Macquarie University, Paulsen is part of an international consortium of researchers building the genome of a synthetic form of brewer鈥檚 yeast, aka 鈥榊east 2.0鈥� (or Sc2.0, from the scientific name Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Like plants and animals, yeasts are classed as eukaryotes鈥攃ellular organisms whose is enclosed by membranes (unlike prokaryotes such as bacteria). While scientists have created a , a eukaryote would be a world-first.
Creating genes from scratch sounds like science fiction. However, it鈥檚 an ambitious but achievable goal for the consortium and Paulsen, who also happens to be a big science fiction fan. 鈥淲e鈥檝e designed the genome on a computer,鈥� he explains. 鈥淲e've chemically synthesised the DNA and replaced all of the natural DNA of yeast with this new DNA that we've designed and constructed.鈥� Yeast 2.0 could answer important questions relating to genome structure and evolution, as well as opening up new industry opportunities鈥攑articularly in Australia.
World of waste
Agriculture is one of the backbones of our economy, but an unfortunate side effect is waste biomass, which includes crop residues and effluent from dairy and meat production. Australia produced more than 16 million tonnes of agricultural waste in 2016鈥�17, according to the . But what if we could put the waste to use? Paulsen and his team are attempting to engineer Yeast 2.0 to 鈥榚at up鈥� agricultural waste to produce essential chemicals.
Many of our modern resources鈥攆rom plastics to jet fuel and fertilisers鈥攁re petroleum products. Synthetic organisms like Yeast 2.0 have the potential to be used in the production of petrochemical alternatives such as biofuels and bioplastics. The yeast could also be used to sustainably produce a multitude of chemicals used in food processing and pharmaceuticals.
The team has already created a instead of the usual sugars. Methanol can be sourced from agricultural and industrial waste, so this synthetic yeast could kick off a 鈥榖io-economy鈥� in Australia. 鈥淭aking waste products from agriculture or from society, and being able to turn them into highly valuable products 鈥� would be a tremendously valuable industry,鈥� says Paulsen.
Superbugs
Paulsen is no stranger to tackling huge challenges鈥攍ike antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Prior to his work at Macquarie University, he spent over a decade in the United States as a microbiologist researching how superbugs develop.
Back in 2013, Paulsen and colleagues that could resist powerful hospital-grade antiseptics. The resistance comes down to a tiny protein on the bacteria鈥檚 surface that can pump out the antibiotic. While this discovery is of major significance for human and animal health, it could lead to some good news on two fronts.
Paulsen and his collaborators at the University of Leeds in the UK recently established that bacterial could actually be key to developing new bioplastics. The protein pumps have unique properties that can transport a wide range of substances, making them ideal for industrial use to produce more environmentally friendly biodegradable plastics.
In addition, understanding the activities of these transport proteins may help researchers develop inhibitors to prevent bacteria from resisting antibiotics. 鈥淥nce we've learned how they鈥檝e become resistant, [we can] come up with strategies to try and beat those superbugs,鈥� says Paulsen.
From saving lives to preventing waste, synthetic organisms could shape our future in as-yet unimagined ways. 鈥淚n large part, we're hoping these new synthetic organisms can help build new industries鈥攖he new industries of the future,鈥� says Paulsen.