Life-science instrumentation enables new advances in bioplastic solutions at the Wyss
By Seth Kroll
(BOSTON) — In fewer than 200 years, plastic has become so deeply embedded in everyday life that it is impossible to envision society without it. Inexpensive, adaptable, and durable, plastics are indispensable from food packaging and textiles to medical and electronic devices. But this durability and ubiquity have made plastic dependency a growing global challenge, persisting in the environment for decades or longer, fragmenting into microplastics that are now found everywhere — from oceans and soil to wildlife and even in human blood and tissues.
Addressing the plastics crisis requires more than incremental improvements. It calls for multiple scalable, systems-level solutions that rethink plastics across their entire life cycle, from how they are produced to how they are safely broken down and reused. At the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, researchers are applying biology, chemistry, and engineering to develop alternatives to fossil-fuel-derived plastics and new strategies for managing existing plastic waste. Along with these innovative strategies is the need for new tools and technical capabilities to enable paradigm-changing scientific advances and support this vision of a sustainable world
“We can engineer microbes to produce biodegradable polymers or break down conventional polymers,” said Emily Stoler, Ph.D., Principal Scientist in the Wyss Institute’s Sustainable Futures Initiative. “To make these systems work at scale, we need to understand exactly what the microbes are producing and in what quantities.”
This kind of precise chemical insight is essential for determining how new materials will perform and whether they can be manufactured efficiently enough to compete with traditional plastics.
Discovering new frontiers with shared instrumentation
Through the Scientific Instrumentation @ Wyss Collaboratories Program, the Institute collaborates with leading instrument manufacturers to connect Wyss scientists and engineers with state-of-the-art laboratory technologies and dedicated technical expertise. The program provides direct access to advanced tools, enabling researchers to test, analyze, and refine new materials and biological systems.
One example of this capability is the Waters ACQUITY Ultra Performance Convergence Chromatography (UPC²®) System. This system, also known as supercritical fluid chromatography, UPC² differs from traditional liquid chromatography and gas chromatography systems in its use of compressed liquid CO2 as a primary mobile phase and enables separation, detection, and quantification of structural analogs, isomers, and challenging chemical compounds. Originally developed for biomedical and pharmaceutical analysis, the platform is now being applied by Wyss researchers to characterize bacterial metabolites and biopolymers involved in next-generation plastic solutions.
This analytical technology now underpins several Wyss sustainability efforts — from reimagining how biodegradable plastics are manufactured to engineering microbes that can break down and rebuild existing materials.
REFINE: reducing dependency on petrochemicals
One Wyss effort confronts the plastics crisis at the beginning of the supply chain: how plastic-like materials are manufactured. The REFINE project is developing a scalable approach for producing PHAs, a family of biodegradable polymers made by microbes. Even though PHAs can be used for a range of products, from packaging to medical devices, their widespread use is limited by a costly and inefficient manufacturing process.
REFINE aims to revolutionize this challenge by improving the efficiency of PHA production through microbial fermentation, where oxygen transfer is often a major bottleneck. Led by Senior Staff Scientist Marika Ziesack, Ph.D., Stoler, and Wyss Core Faculty member Pamela Silver, Ph.D., the REFINE team combines a novel approach to oxygen transfer in bioreactors with engineered microbes and low-carbon feedstocks to enable scalable, high-performance bioplastic production.
“A critical aspect of this next-generation bioplastics production is rapid, accurate chemical characterization for process feedback,” said Ziesack. Access to the Waters ACQUITY UPC2 system allows the team to determine polymer quantity and composition in days rather than weeks, greatly accelerating their translational efforts. “Once established, this new approach to bioproduction can enable diverse and scalable manufacturing of bio-based plastics and other commodities.”
REFINE is a Wyss Validation Project and is seeking collaborators in commercializing this technology.
SPEEDR: building circularity into plastic life cycles
The SPEEDR team is attacking the plastics problem through a two-pronged approach: by engineering microbes that not only degrade commonly used PET plastics but also convert these breakdown products into PHB, a fully compostable bioplastic. Led by Wyss Staff Scientist Peter Nguyen, Ph.D., and Wyss Core Faculty member Jim Collins, Ph.D., the team uses a machine learning-guided enzyme engineering approach rooted in synthetic biology.
“SPEEDR relies on detailed characterization of hydrocarbon monomers and polymers to understand how PET plastics are being broken down by engineered microbes, what the degradation products are, and the efficiency of degradation,” said Nguyen. Rapid, reliable analysis from UPC2 allows the team to evaluate experimental outcomes almost immediately and use the results to adjust subsequent engineering cycles.
This analytical capability has been central to the SPEEDR team’s development of a novel circular plastic lifecycle, where products can be broken down and rebuilt repeatedly. This vision has attracted the support of Gerstner Philanthropies, highlighting how the Wyss Institute brings together scientists, engineers, industry partners, and philanthropists to support innovative, scalable approaches to sustainability.
Technologies bridge silos for a shared mission
The concerted push for sustainable solutions to the plastic crisis across REFINE and SPEEDR is just one illustration of the impact of the Scientific Instrumentation @ Wyss Collaboratories Program, with participation from Waters Corporation and eight other industry manufacturers. Access to advanced instrumentation shared across the multidisciplinary teams at the Wyss enables scientists to ask and answer paradigm-changing questions. Collaborations between Wyss researchers and these technology providers have led to explorations of a wide range of living systems, materials, and engineering processes, all with an understanding of industry-compatible scalability required for market readiness and real-world impact.
Importantly, this work reflects the Wyss Institute’s broader philosophy of breaking silos and disciplinary barriers from fundamental research discoveries to commercial translation. Infrastructure investments originally designed to support medical innovation are being reimagined to address sustainability challenges. Cutting-edge instrumentation, combined with interdisciplinary collaboration through industry partnerships, accelerates progress across different fields. With enabling technologies through the Scientific Instrumentation Program, Wyss researchers are advancing innovative solutions to the plastics crisis that are translatable, scalable, and ready to help build a more sustainable world.