review · Nature Communications · 2025
Engineering biology applications for environmental solutions: potential and challenges
David J. Lea‐Smith, Francis Hassard, Frédéric Coulon, Natalie Partridge, Louise Horsfall, Kyle D. J. Parker, R. Smith, Ronan R. McCarthy, Boyd A. McKew, Tony Gutiérrez, Vinod Kumar, Gabriela Dotro, Zhugen Yang, EBIC partners, Thomas P. Curtis, Peter Golyshin, Sonia Heaven, Bruce Jefferson, Paul Jeffrey, Davey L. Jones, Kristell Le Corre Pidou, Yongqiang Liu, Tao Lyu, Cindy Smith, Alexander Yakunin, Yue Zhang, Natalio Krasnogor
Cited by 41Open access
Abstract
Engineering biology applies synthetic biology to address global environmental challenges like bioremediation, biosequestration, pollutant monitoring, and resource recovery. This perspective outlines innovations in engineering biology, its integration with other technologies (e.g., nanotechnology, IoT, AI), and commercial ventures leveraging these advancements. We also discuss commercialisation and scaling challenges, biosafety and biosecurity considerations including biocontainment strategies, social and political dimensions, and governance issues that must be addressed for successful real-world implementation. Finally, we highlight future perspectives and propose strategies to overcome existing hurdles, aiming to accelerate the adoption of engineering biology for environmental solutions.
Cite this paper
Lea‐Smith, D. J., Hassard, F., Coulon, F., Partridge, N., Horsfall, L., Parker, K. D. J., Smith, R., McCarthy, R. R., McKew, B. A., Gutiérrez, T., Kumar, V., Dotro, G., Yang, Z., partners, E., Curtis, T. P., Golyshin, P., Heaven, S., Jefferson, B., Jeffrey, P., . . . Krasnogor, N. (2025). Engineering biology applications for environmental solutions: potential and challenges. Nature Communications, 16(1), 3538. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58492-0
Lea‐Smith, David J., et al. “Engineering biology applications for environmental solutions: potential and challenges.” Nature Communications, vol. 16, no. 1, 2025, p. 3538, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58492-0.
Lea‐Smith, David J., Francis Hassard, Frédéric Coulon, Natalie Partridge, Louise Horsfall, Kyle D. J. Parker, R. Smith, et al. 2025. “Engineering biology applications for environmental solutions: potential and challenges.” Nature Communications 16 (1): 3538. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58492-0.
Lea‐Smith, D.J. et al. (2025) ‘Engineering biology applications for environmental solutions: potential and challenges’, Nature Communications, 16(1), p. 3538. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58492-0.
@article{leasmith2025engineering,
title = {{Engineering biology applications for environmental solutions: potential and challenges}},
author = {Lea‐Smith, David J. and Hassard, Francis and Coulon, Frédéric and Partridge, Natalie and Horsfall, Louise and Parker, Kyle D. J. and Smith, R. and McCarthy, Ronan R. and McKew, Boyd A. and Gutiérrez, Tony and Kumar, Vinod and Dotro, Gabriela and Yang, Zhugen and partners, EBIC and Curtis, Thomas P. and Golyshin, Peter and Heaven, Sonia and Jefferson, Bruce and Jeffrey, Paul and Jones, Davey L. and Pidou, Kristell Le Corre and Liu, Yongqiang and Lyu, Tao and Smith, Cindy and Yakunin, Alexander and Zhang, Yue and Krasnogor, Natalio},
journal = {Nature Communications},
volume = {16},
number = {1},
pages = {3538},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-58492-0}
}Made from the index record. Check names, capitalisation and page numbers against the paper. Need another style? AI for Research has over 10,000.