PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Photobiol.
Sec. Photoecology and Environmental Photobiology
Volume 3 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphbi.2025.1619812
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Photobiology: Novel Theories and Applications by Early Career ScientistsView all 3 articles
Engineering Light-Driven Biomineralization for a Sustainable Carbonate Economy
Provisionally accepted
Michaela Falkenroth1
Marcel Dann2*- 1Technical University of Darmstadt - Applied Sedimentary Geology, Darmstadt, Germany
- 2Technical University of Darmstadt - Bio-Inspired Energy Conversion, Darmstadt, Germany
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Photosynthetic activity of cyanobacteria is a prominent driver of cell-surface catalysed extracellular calcium carbonate (CaCO3) precipitation. This natural process termed "biomineralization" occurs only under specific circumstances but has given rise to significant carbonate rock formation throughout geological time. Engineering cyanobacterial cell surfaces for enhanced and constitutive biomineralization of abundant ocean-water dissolved Ca 2+ and flue-gas CO2 into CaCO3 may allow for the biotechnological re-capture of CO2 released by industrial processes such as thermal decarboxylation of CaCO3. This may both limit net greenhouse gas emissions and transform CaCO3 into a sustainable resource. Drawing from geological precedent and basic biological research, this perspective outlines promising synthetic biology strategies to convert cyanobacterial biomineralization into a cornerstone technology for a sustainable carbonate economy.
Keywords: biomineralization and calcification, Cyanobacteria, Photosynthesis, Cell surface engineering, CaCO3
Received: 30 Apr 2025; Accepted: 11 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Falkenroth and Dann. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Marcel Dann, Technical University of Darmstadt - Bio-Inspired Energy Conversion, Darmstadt, Germany
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