DTU iGEM Team 2022: Fun4al

The increasing food demand and simultaneous depletion of nonrenewable resources call for urgent action! We need to use our resources more efficiently and recycle the waste we generate in the best possible ways

Lignocellulosic waste, a plant byproduct created by agriculture and forestry, has a huge potential as a renewable and sustainable carbon resource for microbial fermentation in the production of compounds with high value. However, lignocellulosic waste cannot currently be efficiently utilized for this purpose due to the presence of a highly toxic compound called furfural! We aim to solve this problem by engineering fungi to detect and convert furfural into harmless compounds.

With our project, we are one step closer to unlocking the full potential of using lignocellulosic waste in sustainable bio-manufacturing.