Special issue on environment and synthetic biology

Environmental pollution has become one of the most severe issues affecting human health. However, the novel recalcitrant pollutants we continuously generate make it difficult for microbes to acquire novel degradation mechanisms through natural evolution. Emerging synthetic biology strategies have provided new solutions for environmental bioremediation and are accelerating the transition from ‘unable’ to ‘able’. To support the microbial remediation of non-degradable substances, the new novel genes (degrading, transport and stress resistance) need to be mined, rational design degradation pathways and systematic optimisation of degradation components need to be developed, multifunctional metabolic networks and artificial interventions need to be built on synthetic biological systems of pollutants, and new tools and environmental microbial chassis need to be investigated. In this special issue, we will explore the application of novel synthetic biology strategies in the process of environmental pollutant degradation and detection.

Topics covered:

These will include, but not be limited to:

• Microbial metabolic pathways of emerging pollutants
• New artificial metabolic pathways for environmental pollutants
• Biological monitoring and detection of environmental pollutants
• Optimisiation of the degradation system to boost efficiency by biological degradation
• Modification and optimisation of environmental microbial chassis cells
• Bioconversion of environmental pollutants into high-value metabolites

Important deadlines:

• Submission deadline (for full papers): 31 December 2022
• Publication date: upon acceptance

Submission instructions:

Please read the Guide for Authors before submitting. All articles should be submitted online; please select the special issue “Environment and synthetic biology”. Manuscripts will be reviewed and published on a first-come, first-served basis. Once all accepted manuscripts are published, they will be gathered together in this special issue.

Guest editors:

• Prof. Hongzhi Tang, School of Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. Email: tanghongzhi@sjtu.edu.cn
• Prof. Maoyong Song, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Email: mysong@rcees.ac.cn