Building a greener future with tailored enzymes
From laundry detergents to face creams and fabric spinning oils and dyes, everyday consumer products are among the most resource-intensive and polluting goods on the market. Current production approaches for these products generate significant carbon emissions while consuming vast amounts of water and energy.
Precision enzyme discovery
In the face of growing environmental pressure, the EU-funded FuturEnzyme(opens in new window) project set out to develop environmentally friendly enzymes that contribute towards more sustainable detergent, cosmetics and textile industries. Led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and involving partners from both science and industry, the project has combined state-of-the-art enzyme discovery and engineering and computational tools to bring sustainable biotechnology directly into commercial applications. Industrial partners helped define exact enzyme requirements and specify the conditions and performance needs for each product. FuturEnzyme scientists then searched for candidate enzymes using the Horus(opens in new window) bespoke software, which screens microbial genomes and metagenomes from environments all over the planet for enzymes likely to meet these needs. Finally, advanced computational tools refine the selection, leading to enzymes with optimal activity, stability and performance under real-world conditions. “Our targeted approach moves beyond identifying broadly useful enzymes to discovering and optimising enzymes for well-defined, real-world applications,” states project coordinator Manuel Ferrer.
A la carte computational design of enzymes
Recent advances in AI have transformed how enzymes are discovered and engineered. Researchers can now model thousands of enzyme structures and simulate how they will behave with real-world product ingredients and conditions before entering the lab. This speeds up discovery, reduces costs and limits unnecessary lab work. FuturEnzyme also developed its own prediction engine (EP-Pred) integrated in https://horus.bsc.es(opens in new window) which uses theoretic and experimental results to accelerate enzyme discovery through sequence alone. “We are experiencing a revolution in enzyme biotechnology, as we can access and produce enzymes with performance tailored to product needs using a fully computational approach,” highlights Ferrer.
Enzyme-based innovations with reduced environmental footprint
The team, using advanced fermentation and immobilisation technologies, created safe enzyme-based formulations, which upon life cycle assessment indicated notably lower emissions and resource use. The liquid detergent prototype with new enzyme as ingredient shows the potential for effective cleaning at 20 °C, reducing water and energy use while maintaining performance. In the cosmetics sector, a low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid product developed using an innovative enzymatic process offers a more energy-efficient and chemical-free alternative to traditional methods. For textiles, enzyme-based pre-treatment removed the oils applied during fibre processing with several environmental benefits including reduced water consumption and ozone depletion.
Future directions and impact
Looking ahead, FuturEnzyme is actively working to translate its findings into commercial use, with industrial partners preparing for regulatory approval, manufacturing scale-up and market entry. In parallel, many lead enzyme candidates will be made widely accessible through screening kits distributed by Biosynth GmbH. These kits enable research institutions and companies to explore enzymes with targeted catalytic properties, reducing the time, cost and risk typically associated with early-stage discovery. By combining digital innovation, industrial collaboration and global biodiversity exploration, FuturEnzyme has shown how tailored enzymes can transform everyday products into more environmentally sustainable alternatives. With millions of tonnes of laundry detergents, cosmetics and textiles used globally each year, the potential environmental impact of enzyme-enabled solutions is substantial.
