High-throughput screening strategies for plastic-depolymerizing enzymes.

A multitude of plastic-depolymerizing microorganisms and enzymes have been discovered in the plastisphere. Identifying and engineering such microbial strains and enzymes necessitate robust and high-throughput screening strategies for developing effective microbial solutions to counter the plastic accumulation problem and decouple the reliance on fossil resources. This review covers new methods and approaches for the effective high-throughput screening of depolymerizing enzymes for various plastics, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyurethane (PU), and polylactic acid (PLA).

Using synthetic biology to express nitrogenase biosynthesis pathway in rice and to overcome barriers of nitrogenase instability in plant cytosol.

Engineering nitrogen fixation in cereals could reduce usage of chemical nitrogen fertilizers. Here, a nitrogenase biosynthesis pathway comprising 13 genes (nifB nifH nifD nifK nifE nifN nifX hesA nifV nifS nifU groES groEL) was introduced into rice by transforming multigene vectors and subsequently by sexual crossing between transgenic rice plants. Genome sequencing analysis revealed that 13 nif genes in F hybrid rice lines L12-13 and L8-17 were inserted at two loci on rice chromosome 1.

Non-conventional yeasts: promising cell factories for organic acid bioproduction.

Microbial production of organic acids has been hindered by the poor acid tolerance of microorganisms and the high costs of waste salt reprocessing. The robustness of non-conventional microorganisms in an acidic environment makes it possible to produce organic acids at low pH and greatly simplifies downstream processing. In this review we discuss the environmental adaptability features of non-conventional yeasts, as well as the latest developments in genomic engineering strategies that have facilitated metabolic engineering of these strains.

Acetogenesis to ethanologenesis: facilitating NADH oxidation via reductive acetate uptake.

(Homo)acetogens, including Clostridium spp., represent an enigma in metabolic flexibility and diversity. Eubacterium callanderi KIST612 is an acetogen that produces n-butyrate with carbon monoxide (CO) as the carbon and energy source; however, the production route is unknown.

Programmable embedded bioprinting for one-step manufacturing of arterial models with customized contractile and metabolic functions.

Replicating the contractile function of arterial tissues in vitro requires precise control of cell alignment within 3D structures, a challenge that existing bioprinting techniques struggle to meet. In this study, we introduce the voxel-based embedded construction for tailored orientational replication (VECTOR) method, a voxel-based approach that controls cellular orientation and collective behavior within bioprinted filaments. By fine-tuning voxel vector magnitude and using an omnidirectional printing trajectory, we achieve structural mimicry at both the macroscale and the cellular alignment level.

Bacterial proteome microarray technology in biomedical research.

Bacterial proteome microarrays are high-throughput, adaptable tools that allow the simultaneous investigation of thousands of proteins from various bacterial species. These arrays are used to explore bacterial pathogenicity, pathogen-host interactions, and clinical diseases. Recent advancements have expanded their application to profiling human antibodies, identifying biomarkers for infectious and autoimmune diseases, and studying antimicrobial peptides (AMPs).

Vascularized human brain organoids: current possibilities and prospects.

Human brain organoids (hBOs) are in vitro, 3D, self-organizing brain tissue structures increasingly used for modeling brain development and disease. Although they traditionally lack vasculature, recent bioengineering developments enable their vascularization, which partly recapitulates neurodevelopmental processes such as neural tube angiogenesis, formation of neurovascular unit (NVU)-like structures, and early barriergenesis. Although vascularized hBOs (vhBOs) are already used to model (defects in) neurovascular development, vascularization efficiency and other outcomes differ substantially between vascularization protocols and overall shortcomings should be considered.

Renal-clearable probes for disease detection and monitoring.

The demand for novel, minimally invasive, cost-effective, and easily readable diagnostic tools, primarily designed for the longitudinal monitoring of diseases and their treatments, has promoted the development of diagnostic systems that selectively target cells, tissues, or organs, at the same time minimizing their nonspecific accumulation, thus reducing the risk of toxicity and side effects. In this review, we explore the development of renal-clearable systems in non-invasive or minimally invasive detection protocols, all with the objective of minimizing nonspecific accumulation and its associated toxicity effects through quick renal excretion. These probes can identify molecules of interest or different healthy states of the patients through the direct analysis of urine (urinalysis).

Engineering immunity using metabolically active polymeric nanoparticles.

Immune system functions play crucial roles in both health and disease, and these functions are regulated by their metabolic programming. The field of immune engineering has emerged to develop therapeutic strategies, including polymeric nanoparticles (NPs), that can direct immune cell phenotype and function by directing immunometabolic changes. Precise control of bioenergetic processes may offer the opportunity to prevent undesired immune activity and improve disease-specific outcomes.

Programmable ultrasound-mediated swarms manipulation of bacteria-red blood cell microrobots for tumor-specific thrombosis and robust photothermal therapy.

Despite the excellent advantages of biomicrorobots, such as autonomous navigation and targeting actuation, effective penetration and retention to deep lesion sites for effective therapy remains a longstanding challenge. Here, we present dual-engine cell microrobots, which we refer to as PR-robots, created by conjugating photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) with red blood cells (RBCs). The robots penetrate the tumor interior in swarms through combined hypoxic traction and ultrasound actuation (UA).

Reprogramming of Treg cell-derived small extracellular vesicles effectively prevents intestinal inflammation from PANoptosis by blocking mitochondrial oxidative stress.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic relapsing immune-mediated inflammatory disorder of the alimentary tract without exact etiology. Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS) derived from mitochondrial dysfunction impair intestinal barrier function, increase gut permeability, and facilitate immune cell invasion, and, therefore, are considered to have a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of IBD. Here, we reprogrammed regulatory T cell (Treg)-derived exosomes loaded with the antioxidant trace element selenium (Se) and decorated them with the synthetic mitochondria-targeting SS-31 tetrapeptide via a peptide linker.

Advanced strategies for enzyme-electrode interfacing in bioelectrocatalytic systems.

Advances in protein engineering-enabled enzyme immobilization technologies have significantly improved enzyme-electrode wiring in enzymatic electrochemical systems, which harness natural biological machinery to either generate electricity or synthesize biochemicals. In this review, we provide guidelines for designing enzyme-electrodes, focusing on how performance variables change depending on electron transfer (ET) mechanisms. Recent advancements in enzyme immobilization technologies are summarized, highlighting their contributions to extending enzyme-electrode sustainability (up to months), enhancing biosensor sensitivity, improving biofuel cell performance, and setting a new benchmark for turnover frequency in bioelectrocatalysis.

High-throughput optimisation of protein secretion in yeast via an engineered biosensor.

Secretion of high-value proteins and enzymes is fundamental to the synthetic biology economy, allowing continuous fermentation during production and protein purification without cell lysis. Most eukaryotic protein secretion is encoded by an N-terminal signal peptide (SP); however, the strong impact of SP sequence variation on the secretion efficiency of a given protein is not well defined. Despite high natural SP sequence diversity, most recombinant protein secretion systems use only a few well-characterised SPs.

Efficiency and process development for microbial biomass production using oxic bioelectrosynthesis.

Autotrophic microbial electrosynthesis (MES) processes are mainly based on organisms that rely on carbon dioxide (CO) as an electron acceptor and typically have low biomass yields. However, there are few data on the process and efficiencies of oxic MES (OMES). In this study, we used the knallgas bacterium Kyrpidia spormannii to investigate biomass formation and energy efficiency of cathode-dependent growth.

Guidelines for selection and application of kinetics models in bioproduction processes.

Biotechnology is widely used in bioproduction to transform waste into valuable products. A comprehensive understanding of the kinetics involved is crucial for optimizing system designs. In this review, we explore various kinetics models (e.

3D-printed microstructured alginate scaffolds for neural tissue engineering.

Alginate (Alg) is a versatile biopolymer for scaffold engineering and a bioink component widely used for direct cell printing. However, due to a lack of intrinsic cell-binding sites, Alg must be functionalized for cellular adhesion when used as a scaffold. Moreover, direct cell-laden ink 3D printing requires tedious disinfection procedures and cell viability is compromised by shear stress.

Enhancing intestinal absorption of a macromolecule through engineered probiotic yeast in the murine gastrointestinal tract.

Oral administration of therapeutic peptides is limited by poor intestinal absorption. Use of engineered microorganisms as drug delivery vehicles can overcome the challenges faced by conventional delivery methods. The potential of engineered microorganisms to act synergistically with the therapeutics they deliver opens new horizons for noninvasive treatment modalities.

Photocatalytic material-microorganism hybrid systems in water decontamination.

Biological processes are widely used technologies for water decontamination, but they are often limited by insufficient bioavailable carbon sources or biorecalcitrant contaminants. The recently developed photocatalytic material-microorganism hybrid (PMH) system combines the light-harvesting capacities of photocatalytic materials with specific enzymatic activities of whole cells, efficiently achieving solar-to-chemical conversion. By integrating the benefits of both photocatalysis and biological processes, the PMH system shows great potential for water decontamination.

Engineering biology approaches to modulate bacterial biofilms.

Building on a productive two decades of advancements in synthetic biology, engineering biology now promises to enable the implementation and scale-up of novel biological systems tailored to tackle urgent global challenges. Here we explore the latest engineering biology approaches for the control and modification of bacterial biofilms with exciting new functionalities.

Stimulus-assisted in situ bioprinting: advancing direct bench-to-bedside delivery.

The fabrication of 3D bioconstructs using bioprinters will advance the field of regenerative medicine owing to its ability to facilitate clinical treatments. Additional stimulations have been applied to the bioconstructs to guide cells laden in the bioconstructs. However, the conventional bench-to-bedside delivery based on separate bioprinting and biostimulating processes may increase the risks of contamination and shape discordance owing to the considerably long process involved.

Complex waste stream valorization through combined enzymatic hydrolysis and catabolic assimilation by Pseudomonas putida.

Biogenic waste-derived feedstocks for production of fuels, chemicals, and materials offer great potential supporting the transition to net-zero and greater circularity. However, such feedstocks are heterogeneous and subject to geographical and seasonal variability. Here, we show that, through careful strain selection and metabolic engineering, Pseudomonas putida can be employed to permit efficient co-utilization of highly heterogeneous substrate compositions derived from hydrolyzed mixed municipal-like waste fractions (food, plastic, organic, paper, cardboard, and textiles) for growth and synthesis of exemplar bioproducts.

Creating novel metabolic pathways by protein engineering for bioproduction.

A diverse array of natural products has been produced by cell biofactories through metabolic engineering, in which enzymes play essential roles in the complex metabolic network. However, the scope of such biotransformation can be limited by the capacities of natural enzymes. To broaden their scope, many natural enzymes have recently been engineered to activate non-native substrates and/or to employ new-to-nature reaction mechanisms, but most of these systems are only demonstrated for in vitro applications.

Laticifers as in vivo plant cell factories for therapeutic proteins.

The demand for therapeutic proteins is growing annually. Novel approaches for the production of these molecules on a large scale are necessary, especially in plants. Plant laticifers could help provide an in vivo cell system for protein production expression that can reduce costs of production and downstream processing.

The hidden impact of bullying and harassment in biotechnology and biomedical engineering.

The adverse effects of academic bullying and harassment, which are longstanding issues within academic environments, on industry sectors have been inadequately addressed. This commentary explores the detrimental impacts of bullying and harassment in the biotech and biomedical engineering industries, including reduced employee morale, increased turnover, impaired collaboration, and hindered innovation.