Neil Dalvie, Ph.D., Synthetic Biology Fellow, Harvard Medical School

Speaker:

Neil Dalvie, Ph.D.

Synthetic Biology Fellow

Harvard Medical School

Faculty Host: Michelle O'Malley

Title: Microbial rock weathering for marine CO2 sequestration: Process design and genetic engineering

Abstract: 

Rocks are our most abundant natural resources, serving as construction materials and sources of critical metals. Over geologic timescales, they also regulate Earth's climate. When atmospheric COz enters the oceans, the resulting acidification is neutralized by the natural weathering of silicate minerals, trapping thousands of gigatons COz as carbonate. In response to climate change, a new industry has emerged that intentionally distributes rocks into agricultural or marine environments to promote additional COz storage. Natural rock weathering is too slow, however, to sequester COz on a reasonable timescale (decades). In their quest for micronutrients, microorganisms have evolved the ability to break down rocks. How to accelerate rock weathering with microbes at scale is an open engineering question. In this talk, I will explore the process conditions in which bacteria produce siderophores-secreted metabolites that chelate iron. I will argue that genetic engineering may be required to enable siderophore production and enhanced rock weathering at large scales. Finally, I will share progress in the development and operation of pilot-scale mineral-seawater-bioreactors. In addition to enhanced COz storage, this technology will enable a range of new sustainable bioprocesses for metal recovery, natural products manufacturing, and marine agriculture.

Bio:

Neil Dalvie earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University, where he first worked in synthetic biology with Professor Josh Leonard. He completed his PhD at MIT with Professor J. Christopher Love, working to develop ultra-low-cost manufacturing processes for therapeutic proteins. At MIT, Neil developed a suite of genome engineering and protein engineering tools in the yeast Pichia pastoris, a promising microbial replacement for mammalian manufacturing hosts. This work culminated in the development and industrial scale up of a COVID-19 vaccine that was deployed in the clinic. With a Schmidt Science Postdoctoral Fellowship, Neil pivoted his research to study biologically enhanced rock weathering in the Harvard Systems Biology Department. He has applied his bioprocessing background to construct new experimental platforms for measurement of microbe-mineral interactions, including design of pilot-scale systems. This interdisciplinary work bridges bioengineering, process engineering, and geochemistry, with applications in environmental remediation, therapeutics manufacturing, and agriculture.