A National Science Foundation grant of $275 thousand will help the Marquette company Myconaut see if one of the oldest lifeforms on earth and the newest computer technology can combine to get rid of PFAS pollution.
Ryan Iacovacci is the CEO of the biotechnology startup. He says research at the University of Minnesota showed a species of fungi could break apart the carbon-flourine bond that causes PFAS to be a ‘forever chemical.’
“Since we only know scientifically maybe ten percent of the fungal genome, we got to figure out who are the best at breaking down these compounds,” Iacovacci said.
He added there’s a lot of work ahead to figure out what fungi will work and in what way.
“Of how to lock up these molecules or break them down or to transport them into plants,” he said.
The plants would then be harvested and likely destroyed by incineration.
A company release explained the process utilizes mycoremediation, a process that leverages plants and fungi to remove the harmful chemicals.
Since there are an unknown number of fungi and more than four thousand PFAS compounds, they plan to use machine-learning software, AI, to sort through all the possible combinations.
The company is working with several partners, including the University of Minnesota and Northern Michigan University.
The company plans in a year to be at a point where it can develop a pathway to develop and scale their product offering during a second phase of the project.
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