BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:icalendar-ruby
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
X-WR-CALNAME:André Studart: Directed Evolution of Material-Producing Bacte
 ria
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260912T234941Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_48038370275575
DTSTART:20241122T160000Z
DTEND:20241122T170000Z
DESCRIPTION:Engineers often use high temperatures\, pressures and polluting
  chemicals to make synthetic materials. By contrast\, biology produces rem
 arkable materials like wood and bone using widely available chemical resou
 rces in water and at ambient temperature. The ability of organisms to crea
 te materials under such mild processing conditions relies on the intricate
  biological machinery of living cells. Notably\, natural selection process
 es have evolved such machinery for hundreds of millions of years to fulfil
 l the demands of biological environments. In this context\, we asked the q
 uestion: can we harness the machinery and evolutionary processes of biolog
 y to create materials more sustainably while still meeting engineering nee
 ds? To explore this question\, we have utilized a microfluidic platform to
  evolve material-forming microorganisms towards cell mutants that meet the
  functionalities and high productivity needed in industrial processes. Thi
 s directed evolution approach is illustrated using cellulose-producing bac
 teria commonly found in fermented beverages. With the help of the high-thr
 oughput microfluidic tool\, it was possible to isolate a bacterial mutant 
 that produces up to 70% more cellulose than its native counterpart. Such o
 verproducing bacterial strain offers an attractive alternative to wood to 
 meet the growing demand for cellulose in the textile\, medical and packagi
 ng industries. Beyond cellulose\, we expect the proposed technology to off
 er a compelling new approach to isolate bacteria for the bio-fabrication o
 f other sustainable materials\, such as silk\, polyesters and clay-based b
 ricks.
GEO:42.3783;-71.117081
LOCATION:Pierce Hall\, 209
SUMMARY:André Studart: Directed Evolution of Material-Producing Bacteria
URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.seas.harvard.edu/event/andre-studart-directed-
 evolution-of-material-producing-bacteria
CATEGORIES:Colloquia / Seminar / Lecture
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