ReneWool is a genetic engineering product which utilizes enzymatic degradation to upcycle mixed fabric waste into spider silk in E. coli.

We plan to advance our previous iGEM project, RENEWOOL, from development to deployment. Our goal is to engineer a synthetic plasmid that expresses keratinases and/or cellulases—enzymes capable of degrading keratin and cellulose, common in textile industries—to biologically degrade fabric wastes. These enzymes, originally characterized from Actinomadura viridilutea DZ50 by Ben Elhoul M in 2016, will be incorporated into our plasmid. Previously, the UAlberta iGEM team demonstrated the biocompatibility of these genes in various E. coli strains, but their enzymatic activity and degradation efficiency were not tested. This project aims to establish proof of concept and validate their function. For TFC, we plan to integrate efforts between wet lab scientists and hardware engineers to advance the project through three key phases: (1) Experimental Proof of Concept: Characterizing enzyme function and its ability to degrade keratin and cellulose, key structural proteins in textiles. (2) In-Lab Technological Validation: Designing, assembling, and integrating hardware with wet lab components, followed by testing in a controlled environment. (3) Technological Validation in Relevant Environments: Removing strict controlled variables and testing the prototype on actual fabric waste, introducing real-world environmental variability.

No prototype video available