From farmland to construction: Bacteria strains offer sustainable biocement solution

A recent study examines the effectiveness of environmental strains for the production of biocement. The study's lead author, Dimitrios Terzis, is an EPFL senior scientist and a co-founder of Medusoil, a company that produces organic binders and that opened a production plant in Vaud in 2024.

For the study published recently in Scientific Reports, Terzis worked with scientists from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland to analyze 50 bacteria strains sourced from farmland in Ticino canton. This land is used for grazing dairy cattle and has shown to be particularly well suited for the production of Medusoil's biocement due to the widely available presence of calcium.

Biocementation relies on stimulating a natural process: The secretion by microorganisms of an enzyme that triggers the formation of carbonate, which then binds with the calcium largely present in the soil to form calcite, a natural cement.

The study identified which naturally occurring strains fabricate the enzyme required for carbonate formation and can be fermented – two factors that make them prime candidates for biocement production.

Medusoil, founded seven years ago, supplies organic binders whose carbon impact is at least 55% lower than that of standard cement, which is made by heating an 80% limestone/20% clay mixture to high temperatures. Biocement can be used in a number of geotechnical and building applications, such as to reinforce dams, prevent soil erosion by wind and help protect areas subject to landslides, earthquakes or cyclic loads induced by road and railway traffic.

Image source: Alain Herzog / EPFL 2025.