Choosing to Grow Closer Together

Microbes were there before us. They are now a part of us. Some of what is us stemmed from them.

It’s impossible to draw a line between where microbes end and we begin. Although we have always been close with them, lately we have been getting to know them much better. By knowing our microbes, we stand a chance of deeper self-reflection.

My exploration into the latest developments between microbes and humans started about a year ago when I first learned about a startup that uses air, electricity and microbes to make edible protein powder. This article only scratches the surface of what humans and microbes have been collaborating on as of late. Nonetheless, it is a small summary of a few industries and a few types of organisms that have the potential to transform our collective future in a big, beautiful and, hopefully, positive way. 

For this article I collaborated with my close friend and a talented artist Diana Kaplun, who painted the watercolor illustrations. She lives and works in Almaty, Kazakhstan and firmly believes that beauty will save the world. 

METHANE, WASTEWATER AND PLASTICS

Two environmental problems that can be solved simultaneously by harnessing microbes are plastic pollution and excess methane from wastewater.

Excess methane can be useful to bacteria called Methylocystis parvus. And it’s useful for us for know that M. parvus uses methane as a source of energy and stores it in a form of a polymer that can be then isolated from the bacteria and turned into non-petroleum based biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) plastic. Despite scientists having known about these bacteria’s ability to make plastic for almost 100 years, the technology that allows us to harvest it is very new.

Unlike its popular rival polylactic acid (PLA) that can only be composted at a commercial site, PHA can biodegrade in many environments, including the oceans. PHA is also very versatile. It can be turned into small packaging items like cups, jars, and bottles that are usually hard to recycle due to limitations of the injection molding process.

Fiber-grade PHA can be used in outerwear polyester clothes, shoes and ropes. Flexible packaging films and wraps that are difficult to recycle can also be made with PHA. 

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, production of PHA using methanotrophic bacteria like M. parvus can utilize methane from wastewater, allowing plastic production plants to be placed adjacent to existing wastewater facilities. Sadly, as the technology is still in its infancy, it is currently not cost-effective compared to fossil fuel-based plastics.

PRECISION FERMENTATION

We cherish the fermentation of the past and celebrate it in the present.  But we have mixed emotions about the radical changes that precision fermentation might bring to the agricultural sector of the future.

Baby formula, dairy products, egg white protein, natural flavors, buttery fat, alcoholic beverages: wine, whiskey and sake, animal-free collagen, personal care ingredients, mushroom leather, wormless silk, protein powder, biodegradable plastic, farmed fish feed, dog food and, of course, animal-free meat – all these products can be “brewed” from “farmed” bacteria, yeasts and mycelium. All thanks to the process called precision fermentation. 

In precision fermentation, the single-celled organisms are not eaten, but merely used as a living factory to produce in-demand proteins that have traditionally been sourced from animals.

While admirable in their attempts to slow down climate change, such technologies sound straight out of a sci-fi book. Could you ever have dreamed of living through the times when “real” dairy milk or real egg white protein was produced in a sterile lab vat of sugar, water and recombinant bacteria or yeasts. But it is happening. Shouldn’t we be happy about the bright green microbial future ahead of us? 

While a synthetic jacket made of mushroom leather or spider silk proteins produced by bacteria will mostly elicit positive emotions, microbe-derived lab-produced food leaves most people confused and concerned. Take the next generation of milk, for example: made by scientists inside of a bioreactor from genetically modified yeasts. That might sound appetizing only to very few, despite its lack of bovine growth hormones or antibiotics and the fact that all microbial cells have been filtered out of the final product. While only time will grant any kind of status to these ultra-processed novel foods, the environmental effect from their production is profoundly impactful, dramatically decreasing the need for water and land. 

Our generation has many reasons to be anxious about the future. By choosing to deepen our relationship with microbes we’ve opened a promising frontier. There are still more questions than answers and it’s unlikely we will live happily ever after, but there sure is a colony of hope.