Microscope image of microbes accelerating the weathering of a single mineral grain
The weathering of ultramafic and mafic minerals is a natural process that sequesters carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This geological phenomenon is Earth’s natural thermostat as it has helped regulate global temperatures for billions of years, ultimately enabling life to thrive on Earth.
Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations from human activity is however far outpacing the rate of carbon capture by mineral weathering. Microbes have evolved natural mechanisms to accelerate the mineral weathering process. Cytochrome designs geobiological systems to further accelerate and scale mineral weathering to capture carbon and recover critical metals for the renewable energy transition.
Microbes have evolved mechanisms to utilize minerals for growth across diverse ecosystems. This leads to the formation of complex microbiomes on mineral surfaces that can accelerate the weathering process. Cytochrome utilizes bottom-up molecular approaches that leverage these evolutionary mechanisms to accelerate mineral dissolution.
For centuries, humans have successfully used top-down engineering to design large-scale cultivation systems utilizing microbial processes for different products. Beer or wine, anyone? Inspired by these approaches, Cytochrome leverages these approaches to design cutting edge reactors for sustained, biologically accelerated mineral weathering.
in geobiology, bioengineering, climate science, and biochemistry. The team is powered by a multidisciplinary group of entrepreneurs, operators, scientists, and research institutions.
