ENGINEERING SYNTHETIC BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS FOR BIODEGRADATION OF PERSISTENT ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS

Abstract

Background: Persistent environmental pollutants (PEPs) such as plastics, petroleum hydrocarbons, pesticides and heavy metals can cause severe ecological and public health problems due to their long term accumulation in the environment and resistance to natural degradation. The efficiency of conventional remediation technologies is often limited, costly to operate, and has secondary environmental impacts.

Objective: This study investigates engineered synthetic biological systems for efficient biodegradation of persistent environmental pollutants and compares microbial and metabolic engineering approaches for environmental remediation.

Methods: A comparative experimental analysis was performed using engineered bacterial systems, synthetic microbial consortia, and CRISPR-based metabolic engineering platforms. Environmental samples such as contaminated soil, industrial wastewater and plastic waste were analyzed by GC-MS, metagenomic sequencing, enzyme activity assays and biodegradation profiling techniques.

Findings: Synthetic microbial consortia exhibited the best pollutant degradation efficiency of 88% as compared to engineered bacterial systems with 82% degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons and plastic pollutants. CRISPR-based metabolic engineering enhanced the biodegradation enzyme activity (~40%) and also significantly reduced the environmental toxicity. Molecular analysis also showed increased expression of pollutant degradation genes and improved microbial stress resistance.

Conclusion: Efficient engineering of synthetic biological systems for enhanced biodegradation and environmental detoxification provides sustainable strategies for pollution control and ecosystem restoration and for advanced applications in environmental biotechnology.