Background

Cellulose is the most abundantly available organic polymer in nature. Plants, bacteria and even select animals (such as marine urochordates) produce it, utilising its properties for support, adhesion, and floatation.

Cellulose is significant in our everyday lives for paper, dietary fibre, and clothing. It is the main ingredient in cotton, linen and any plant-derived material - we are constantly in contact with it!

Given its properties and prevalence in nature, cellulose finds other uses as a feedstock, in composite materials, as a biomaterial for tissue regeneration and many more.

Due to its adaptability and ubiquity the full potential of cellulose has yet to be fulfilled. There are still many ways that we can engineer cellulose for novel uses though all research areas desire reduced cost of production and processing.

Most of the cellulose we currently process comes from plants. Plant cellulose exists naturally in a mixture with other compounds, which requires an energy-intensive purification step to yield the pure cellulose that is useful in many medical and environmental contexts. Bacterial cellulose, on the other hand, grows in a much purer and finer form. Treatment usually consists only of heating with aqueous NaOH.

Our Plan

This summer, we aim to optimize cellulose production in bacteria, particularly Gluconacetobacter xylinum (previously known as Acetobacter xylinum), a highly-studied native producer of cellulose, and in our very own research-friendly E. coli. This should notably improve cost-efficiency and accessibility for its many potential applications which we will also explore.

Get In Touch

Contact us as at imperialigem2014@gmail.com or send us a tweet