High performance fibres and synthetic textiles are used in large quantities in both industrial and consumer products. They are produced from petrochemical sources and are rarely biodegradable. Whilst some are in principle recyclable, laundry operations lead to uncontrolled release of microplastic pollution into the environment, including the oceans. Natural fibres, such as cotton, make significant demands on land and water use, and have limited mechanical properties. This project will develop an entirely new approach to manufacturing fibres by spinning them from designer proteins grown by microbial fermentation. The resulting materials will be sustainable, biodegradable, and re-processible. Proteins are large natural molecules built out of exact sequences of amino acids; they play essential structural and functional roles in all known life forms. The specific atomic structures mean that the protein chain folds into a precise and unique 3D shape, rather like a 3D jigsaw puzzle. The size and shape of proteins is much better defined than any conventional polymer (manmade plastic). It is these different shapes that give proteins their individual functions. Recent advances in computational protein design allow specific architectures to be designed deliberately. In combination with improved methods to produce large quantities of these proteins, it is now possible to imagine designing bulk macromolecular materials, with much greater accuracy than existing products. Nature makes effective use of intermediate length scales between individual molecules and extended structures big enough to see. Currently, our synthetic materials are poorly controlled in this range. By designing specific protein sequences, we can create self-organising units that simplify both protein production and the process of spinning useful fibres. These units automatically align and pack, increasing mechanical performance, whilst retaining the attractive features of natural protein fibres, which make them so comfortable to wear. Existing attempts to develop this idea have used versions of natural proteins that are extremely difficult to convert into high quality textiles, using conventional bulk manufacturing processes. This project uses newly designed motifs, created from first principles, in order to resolve the crucial obstacles at each step of the supply chain from fermentation, through fibre spinning, to textile conversion. The project will demonstrate the scalability of each step, and produce physical fabric samples. This demonstration, together with key data on production yields and textile performance, will underpin further investment in this revolutionary technology, within the UK. Crucially, the technology will disrupt with existing textile supply chains, allowing new environmentally sound local production. This highly interdisciplinary project will bring together structural biology, synthetic biology, computational protein design, and materials science to create a paradigm shift in fabric manufacturing.

Many of the small molecules essential to our every-day lives (e.g. pharmaceuticals, clothing, cosmetics, materials, etc.) are currently manufactured from diminishing fossil fuels via industrial processes that contribute significantly to global climate change. Record high atmospheric CO2 levels in 2020 and ambitious net-zero carbon emission targets by 2050 mean that urgent sustainable manufacturing solutions are now required to reduce the environmental burden of this industry on our planet for future generations. The MICROSYN project will uniquely combine cutting-edge modern biological engineering with green chemistry to create transformative solutions to the sustainable manufacture of the nylon-precursor adipic acid from abundant waste generated by the paper-mill industry (lignin) and consumer use (plastic bottles). This will eliminate carbon emissions from the current petrochemical method used to make this compound (currently >20,000,000 ton/year; 5-10% of all human-associated CO2/N2O emissions worldwide) and create circular bioprocesses that avoid the incineration of existing waste streams (releasing further CO2), whilst also addressing the global plastic waste crisis. The project recognizes low-value waste as an underutilized carbon-rich feedstock, and employs modern synthetic biology to transform these abundant and sustainable resources into a high-value chemical via novel biomanufacturing processes.