SBIR Phase I: Cyanobacteria Metabolic Engineering for Dye Stability

Award ID: 2026192

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to produce a replacement for petroleum-based colors used in the food, cosmetic and textile industries. The genetic engineering techniques developed in this project can change the global natural color industry. Companies in these industries are seeking to use natural dyes as a replacement for petroleum-based dyes, but have been unable to find a suitable replacement for the color blue.Most colors used today are made from petroleum and non-renewable materials that can pollute. This project addresses the sustainable production of blue dye by using special microbes. By successfully engineering a stable natural blue dye through microbial production, virtually any product produced by the food, cosmetic and textile industry will be able to replace artificial and synthetic dyes in the supply chain. This technology establishes a novel scalable production platform for the new natural manufacturing techniques for high-value products beyond natural colors. The proposed project addresses the problem of synthetic, unsustainable, unhealthful petroleum-based blue dye that is currently used in food, cosmetic and textile products. This is due to how natural blue pigments degrade and fade in color after prolonged exposure to high temperature and acidic environments during normal manufacturing processes. This projects research goal is to use genetic and screening methods to enable photosynthetic manufacture of a blue dye tolerant of acids and high temperatures for an extended period of time. The objectives are to characterize the stability and economics of an existing natural blue dye produced by cyanobacteria, express the parts of that natural blue dye in another microbe, engineer the stability of those parts via directed evolution, rational design, and a controlled engineering approach through an iterative process to test for growth and stability. Lastly, the engineered genes will be expressed in the original cyanobacterium via a novel CRISPR-based gene editing technique, and the novel natural blue color will be tested for acid and high-temperature stability. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Erik Pierstorff