University of Washington (UW)

The University of Washington will develop cell-free (in vitro) platforms that produce functional multi-enzyme systems and perform the cost-effective bioconversion of CO2 into industrial chemicals. Cell-free transcription-translation (TXTL) is a popular, robust approach for producing cell-free biocatalytic systems capable of complex, multi-enzyme reactions. TXTL-based systems are genetically programmable, allow for rapid prototyping, and could permit the integration of multiple biochemical functions— including complex membrane proteins—that would otherwise be incompatible with one another. Rather than incurring the high costs and process inefficiencies associated with producing and purifying multiple enzymes in separate steps, the team will engineer technologies to directly express complex, multi-enzyme systems in place and optimized for CO2 bioconversion. It will create a self-assembling system that electrochemically regenerates formate reducing equivalents in real time and assimilates the formate into malate for use in polymer, beverage and food, textile, agricultural and pharmaceutical industries.

The application of biology to sustainable uses of waste carbon resources for the generation of energy, intermediates, and final products---i.e., supplanting the “bioeconomy”—provides economic, environmental, social, and national security benefits and offers a promising means of carbon management.