Our researchers and start-ups are creating a better environment for future generations through synthetic biology.

Infinite recyling of plastics

Samsara Eco is a start-up based on campus at ANU that has developed a new enzyme to break down plastic waste into components that can be recycled to create new plastic. This revolutionary technology has a low carbon footprint and allows plastic to be endlessly recycled, even hard to recycle coloured, multilayered or mixed PET and polystyrene. 

The technology used by Samsara Eco was developed in conjuction with ANU, and Samsara Eco partners with Woolworths, ANU and Main Sequence Ventures. 

Filtering clean water

Membrane Transport Engineers is a start-up led by Dr Caitlin Byrt, Dr Annamaria De Rosa and Dr Samantha McGaughey. The MTE team develop biotechnologies that are based on molecular functions from plants, such as the membrane separation functions of proteins called aquaporins. Aquaporin proteins contribute to filtering and separating water and other solutes. The application of the biotechnologies is in harvesting resources from wastewater, for example, harvesting molecules that can be used for making fertilisers.  

The same technology can also be applied to wastewater from mines to assist with water filtration and recovery of valuable materials that would otherwise be lost.