Israeli CO2-eating bacteria could help save the planet

Israeli scientists have revealed a potential weapon in the battles against air pollution, deforestation and climate change: bacteria engineered to eat carbon dioxide (CO2) from the environment. Prof. Ron Milo’s plant and environmental sciences research lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science published a report on the study in Cell on November 27. Milo’s team spent nearly a decade using rational design, genetic engineering and a sped-up version of evolution to create unique CO2-eating E. coli bacteria. First, they identified the genes that plants use for the process of carbon fixation – taking carbon from CO2 and turning it into protein, DNA and other biological molecules. Many of these genes were already present in the bacteria. Others could be added or modified. .

They also inserted a gene that allows bacteria to get energy from formate, a readily available substance that can be produced directly from electricity and air. Once the cultured bacteria had the necessary genetic mechanics, they still had to be coaxed into making the switch from their normal food (sugar) to CO2. Postdoctoral fellow Shmuel Gleizer, the lead researcher, did this with a technique called lab evolution. Together with PhD students Roee Ben-Nissan, Yinon Bar-On and other members of Milo’s team, Gleizer weaned the bacteria gradually off the sugar they were used to eating. At each stage, cultured bacteria were given just enough sugar to keep them from complete starvation, as well as plenty of CO2 and formate.-- More...