Integrating microbial bioremediation, multi-omics, and emerging technologies for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) detoxification.
Khandelwal S, Mishra A, Pandey SK
Phytoremediation
The soil in your vegetable garden or the park where your kids play may harbor invisible carcinogens from car exhaust and industrial runoff — and microbes engineered with these new techniques could neutralize them without digging up the earth.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are sticky, cancer-causing chemicals that seep into soil and water from car exhaust, factory emissions, and oil spills. Tiny living things like bacteria and fungi can actually eat these pollutants and convert them into harmless substances. Scientists are now turbocharging this natural cleanup process using genetic tools and artificial intelligence to make the microbes work faster and more effectively.
Key Findings
Multiple microbial groups — bacteria, fungi, algae, and archaea — use specialized enzymes (dioxygenases, monooxygenases, laccases) to break PAHs into less toxic compounds, with key genes like nah, Phn, nid, and pah identified as central to the process.
Integrated strategies combining bioaugmentation, biostimulation, composting, and phytoremediation outperform any single bioremediation method, addressing the core limitation that PAHs' low solubility restricts microbial access.
Emerging tools including CRISPR-based genetic engineering, multi-omics platforms, and AI-driven predictive models are enabling the design of targeted microbial strains and significantly improving PAH degradation efficiency.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Bacteria, fungi, and algae can naturally break down toxic industrial pollutants called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) found in contaminated soil and water. This review shows how combining these microbes with cutting-edge tools like CRISPR gene editing and AI can dramatically improve cleanup of PAH-polluted environments.
Abstract Preview
Environmental organic pollutants, identified as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), are widespread and toxic. These hydrocarbons are commonly produced by industrial activities, burning fossil ...
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