MicroBTX: Catalyzing a Green Revolution in Aromatic Chemistry

Aromatic hydrocarbons are an important class of petrochemicals for the manufacturing of numerous materials. However, they are predominantly produced from non-renewable fossil fuels, as biological production routes are unknown. We aim to identify and engineer novel enzymes to establish the bio-based microbial production of benzene, toluene, and xylene, one of the most industrial dominant chemicals nowadays. Unlike traditional enzyme engineering methods, which are typically laborious and low throughput, our approach leverages an innovative in vivo enzyme engineering strategy that can screen for new functional enzymes at an accelerated rate.