Genetically modified yeast can create valuable materials from urine

Researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), UC Irvine, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), have used biology to convert human urine into a valuable product.

The team genetically modified yeast to take the elements present in urine and create hydroxyapatite – a calcium and phosphorus-based mineral naturally produced by humans and other animals to build bones and teeth.

Commercially manufactured hydroxyapatite is used in surgery and dentistry to repair these structures when they're broken, and the lightweight material's remarkable strength and toughness make it an excellent candidate building material and even as a replacement for some types of plastic.

Their work, recently published in Nature Communications, not only provides a cost-efficient pathway to produce hydroxyapatite, but also a practical mechanism for reducing the cost of wastewater treatment, an energy-efficient means of producing fertilizer, and opens the door for other yeast-based technologies that can create useful materials out of scavenged minerals.

The star of the show is the team's strain of Saccharomyces boulardii, a yeast closely related to the species used to brew beer and make bread. S. boulardii likes to grab minerals from its environment and store them inside a special membrane compartment.

Image source: Behzad Rad/Berkeley Lab.