What is the name of your organization?
Living in Silico Inc.
What is the name of your solution?
Biosurfactants for Remediation
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
We use fungal-bioremediated biosurfactants from vegetable oil to remediate oil spills and refinery waste (sludge).
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Brampton, ON, Canada
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Canada
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Approximately 60% of synthetic surfactants used in households end up in aquatic ecosystems, contributing to pollution. Surfactants are also widely used in oil spill cleanup, but their application in small and medium spills—occurring hundreds to thousands of times annually—is less recognized. These spills account for 700 tons of oil requiring remediation.
However, synthetic surfactants have significant limitations. They are ineffective in extreme cold, where future oil spills are expected, and their toxicity harms marine life. Additionally, oil recovery using these surfactants can prevent natural degradation, creating further environmental risks. Even the most biodegradable synthetic surfactants break down only up to 30%.
Biosurfactants offer a sustainable alternative. They are 100% biodegradable and provide a safer, more effective solution for oil spill remediation. Our goal is to address pollution caused by synthetic surfactants while advancing commercial adoption of biosurfactants for widespread environmental cleanup.
What is your solution?
Our solution leverages food substrates to reduce biosurfactant production costs. We employ metabolically engineered fungi to produce a biosurfactant formulation, which we hypothesize contains MEL-A.
In this process, carbohydrates are converted into mannose, while fatty acids from chickpea aquafaba undergo peroxisomal beta-oxidation to synthesize biosurfactants in vitro. This oxidation step generates key factors for anaerobic respiration, enabling the fungi to thrive in batch reactor production.
A key advantage of our method is its sustainability—its only by-product is a harmless fertilizer, which can be repurposed for agricultural use. By optimizing this approach, we aim to create an affordable, scalable, and eco-friendly alternative to synthetic surfactants.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our solution serves industries and government agencies by providing a more effective and sustainable approach to oil spill remediation. The oil and gas industry, which frequently deals with small to medium-scale spills, currently relies on synthetic surfactants that are toxic, non-biodegradable, and ineffective in extreme cold. These limitations make cleanup efforts less efficient, especially in sensitive environments like the Arctic. Similarly, government environmental agencies face challenges in managing widespread oil contamination while ensuring ecological safety and cost-effective solutions. Traditional remediation methods often cause further environmental harm, leaving regulators and cleanup firms with few sustainable options.
Our biosurfactant technology directly addresses these challenges by offering a 100% biodegradable alternative to synthetic surfactants. Produced using food waste as a substrate, our solution significantly lowers production costs, making large-scale adoption feasible. Unlike conventional surfactants, our biosurfactants function in extreme cold, allowing for effective cleanup in Arctic and offshore environments. By improving oil recovery while minimizing toxicity, our technology empowers industries and governments to meet regulatory standards, enhance environmental stewardship, and implement cost-effective, sustainable remediation strategies. This solution ensures that oil spill response efforts are both effective and environmentally responsible.
