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Problem

Two of the biggest existential environmental threats to human survival on the planet are: 1) climate change due to excessive emission of greenhouse gases (mainly carbon dioxide); and 2) 10,000-year lifecycle plastic pollution. Further, our use of non-sustainable materials such as 10,000 year-lifecycle plastics has led to massive pollution, notably the great pacific garbage patch and projected more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050. Furthermore, microplastic pollution threatens the marine ecosystem that accounts for 50-85% of our oxygen supply and maintains the fragile carbon, water and oxygen cycle on our planet.

Solution

To address these issues simultaneously, without changing the entire economic ecosystem, and through an inexpensive, sustainable, and scalable technology, Dr. Prashant Nagpal’s lab has engineered living nano-organisms (called Nanobugs or Nanorgs). These Nanobugs can convert massive amounts of CO2 into biodegradable plastics, fuels, and value-added chemicals such as fertilizers and food preservatives, simply using sunlight.

Market Application

Applications for the technology are areas such as carbon sequestration, biofuels, and bioplastics.

What's Next?

The technology is available for exclusive or non-exclusive licensing and is currently seeking investment and industry partnership for scale up studies.