Beyond Nature: Training Bacteria to Turn Carbon Dioxide into Fuel
At SBBS, cutting-edge research and teaching are closely intertwined. Nowhere is this clearer than in the emerging field of artificial photosynthesis, where insights from chemistry, biology, and engineering converge to tackle the climate crisis. Recent work from Dr Lin Su’s group demonstrates how this interdisciplinary science can not only advance sustainable technologies, but also shape the learning experience of the next generation of biotechnologists.
Featured on the front cover of Chemical Science, this image illustrates the light-driven 'domino' process developed to upcycle CO₂ into valuable chemicals. Image credit: Dr Lin Su.
Photosynthesis is one of nature’s most successful innovations. For billions of years, plants and cyanobacteria have effectively turned sunlight and carbon dioxide into energy. Within the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences (SBBS), we have researchers dedicated to understanding exactly how these natural systems work. But knowing how nature operates is only half the story. The next step is adapting those biological blueprints to solve human problems.
This is the focus of "Artificial Photosynthesis," a field where biology meets engineering. In a recent paper featured on the cover of Chemical Science, I and my team demonstrated a new way to combine chemistry and biology to tackle the climate crisis.
The research solves a difficult problem in sustainable energy. While chemists are very good at capturing solar energy to turn carbon dioxide into simple gases, they often struggle to turn those gases into complex, useful fuels. Bacteria, on the other hand, are excellent at making complex chemicals but generally cannot capture solar energy efficiently.
Working with colleagues at the University of Cambridge, we helped build a system where a semiconductor captures light to create "syngas," which then feeds a specific type of bacteria called Clostridium ljungdahlii. These bacteria consume the gas and ferment it into valuable chemicals like ethanol and acetate.
However, we faced a major hurdle: the bacteria were simply too slow to be useful in an industrial setting. Rather than genetically modifying the bacteria immediately, we looked to evolution. Using a technique called Adaptive Laboratory Evolution (ALE), we effectively putting the bacteria through a "boot camp" over 20 generations. They selected the fastest growers again and again until they had a strain that thrived in the new environment. The results were stark. The adapted bacteria grew 2.5 times faster than their wild counterparts and produced 120 times more chemical product.
While this foundational work was conducted at Cambridge, I brought this cutting-edge research line to his new laboratory at Queen Mary. This means our students now have direct access to to work as it continues to develop these new technologies here in London.
Crucially, this research directly informs the teaching you receive. Dr Su leads the module BIO753P - Genome Editing in Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology, part of our MSc Biotechnology programme. This course is designed to equip the next generation of scientists with advanced technical skills while fostering the global perspective needed to solve real-world problems. By studying in a department that champions such interdisciplinary science, our students are immersed in an environment where the curriculum is shaped by the latest discoveries.
We are building a community where students don't just learn science; they help create the solutions for a sustainable future. Whether through final year projects or summer studentships, our learners are often in the lab alongside staff, contributing to the next phase of breakthroughs just like this one.
Dr Lin Su
Centre of Molecular Cell Biology
Molecules of Life
Hear more from Dr Lin Su on his module on the Biotechnology programme here.
Su, L., Rodríguez-Jiménez, S., Short, M.I. and Reisner, E., 2025. Adapting gas fermenting bacteria for light-driven domino valorization of CO 2. Chemical Science.