The „Neo-Carbonocene“ – Paving new ways for the sustainable conversion of CO2 with synthetic biology

To address the climate crisis, humans must reduce CO₂ emissions. At the same time, we need to find new ways to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere. While biological photosynthesis fixes billions of tons of CO₂ per year, this process is not sufficient to mitigate anthropogenic climate change. In the talk, Tobias Erb will discuss the evolution and limitation of photosynthesis and show how we can use synthetic biology to create alternatives that convert CO₂ more efficiently than those processes evolved by nature. His lecture will also take a broader look at synthetic biology, through which humans can become an active part of evolution and realize new solutions that natural evolution has not invented (yet). 

Tobias Erb is a synthetic biologist and Director at the MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology. His team interfaces biology and chemistry and centers on the discovery, function, and engineering of CO₂-converting enzymes and pathways to develop new-to-nature solutions, such as synthetic CO₂-fixation pathways and artificial chloroplasts. Tobias Erb has received multiple accolades, among them the Otto Bayer Award, the Future Insight Award, and – recently – the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize. Erb is an elected member of the European Academy of Microbiology, EMBO, as well as the National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina. 

Moderation: Professor Dr. Uwe Bornscheuer