Natural purification and indoor misting
Natural means and artificial mechanisms should form a synergy for environmental control of the present and future. This can be represented at all scales, from the home to an entire commercial and industrial complex, although certainly at a domestic level, natural means could be more than enough; at an industrial level that usually changes.
The first generations of superplants made with synthetic biology are being developed to overcome the increasingly polluted air of huge cities. Environmental purification methods are constantly evolving, not only through efficient humidifiers or purifying mists but also through synthetic biology.
Some laboratories have been responsible for presenting vegetation designed solely as the main goal, to clean the air in closed spaces, and more so for regions predisposed to environmental pollution. According to experiments and early prototypes, a single specimen should be able to eradicate pollution from a home. It would be equivalent to 30 normal plants, such as tiger tongue, Ficus Robusta, and Chinese palm, among other types.
Now, it will be valid to extrapolate a project to large levels, such as the environmental purification of an entire industrial warehouse, whose production processes and other activities generate too much atmospheric pollution. In this type of environment, the installation of industrial humidifiers and purifiers is a reality due to the microclimatic nature.
Returning to synthetic bioengineering, it is likely that this type of technology is based on some naturally purifying plant. It would make complete sense since many species of vegetation are very suitable for interiors, and in the process, eliminate any harmful particles generated in them, such as formaldehyde, dust, bacteria, viruses, and even gases.
These prototypes are supposed to be designed to counteract volatile organic compounds, especially those from household or industrial products, such as cleaning products, furniture, and paints, among others. The aforementioned formaldehyde is a clear example, in addition to benzene, toluene, and xylene.
In the photosynthetic process of the plants that surround us, reactions occur to convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose, necessary for the life of living beings. In this process, an enzyme is generated in chloroplasts, essential for these conversions. Precisely, there lies the key to being able to reform the Pothos genome, and thus, produce extra enzymes, which can metabolize the aforementioned substances or chemical components.
Such a procedure consists of the induction of synthetic metabolic pathways so that the experimental plants are able to use different chemicals – not only carbon dioxide – in the atmosphere or in microclimatic environments, adopting them as carbon sources within their natural cellular metabolism.
If this kind of biological technology can be implemented, it will be a step towards not depending so much on purification devices, at least at a residential level. Possibly in industrialized environments, the need for industrial humidifier and other purification mechanisms will continue to be a priority.
Plant bioengineering researchers choose specific plants that are beneficial in terms of capacity and that do not require much maintenance. The best species would be those that do not produce pollen for obvious reasons, nor seeds, with the capacity for rapid growth, and a super absorption of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds that are dangerous for any living being.
At least in its initiation phases, this type of product will not be cheap, and perhaps its care will go through stages of trial and error. For the moment, it is best to continue using indoor plants, special for environmental purification, as well as humidifiers and air ionizers. At least this way, one could practice with these natural species, before acquiring the synthetic plant evolved with bioengineering.
In any case, it is essential to keep closed spaces in optimal conditions, with a good purifying microclimate, with excellent thermal sensation in all senses, whether at a residential, commercial, or industrial level.
