Fabulous Fungi - Allie Leen

Project Summary

Ligninolytic fungi, are fungi capable of depolymerizing and mineralizing lignin, which is one of the main components of wood. Some of these fungi, especially the oyster mushroom have expressed the ability of breaking down other materials such as plastics, pesticides, heavy metals, and PCBs. This method of using fungi to break down waste is known as mycoremediation. You are probably wondering why mycoremediation isn't used more frequently. The main reason is time. Currently, mycoremediation technology is still in its infancy and simply works too slowly to be used at the industrial level. To combat this, I plan to utilize the gene editing technology, CRISPR to edit the genes in oyster mushrooms to make their enzymes more efficient at breaking down pollutants found within the Hudson River ecosystem. More research in this field is extremely important because successful mycoremediation techniques could provide humanity with a method to not only absorb, but completely break down pollutants in water and soil. This could make non-eco-friendly methods of breaking down waste such as incineration obsolete which would cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.