Can we teach bacteria to eat “forever chemicals”?

Hi! I’m Lucía, originally from Alicante, Spain. My love for biology started early, but it truly took off in high school thanks to my inspiring biology teacher who showed me how fascinating and powerful life sciences can be. I became especially curious about how living systems work and how we can harness them to solve real problems. That curiosity led me to study Biotechnology in Valencia, where I built a strong foundation in biochemistry, microbiology, and process engineering. After graduating, I took a different path: instead of starting a Master’s right away, I moved to Berlin for one year with an Erasmus+ grant. There, I joined a research group engineering bacteria to consume CO₂ and produce useful chemicals. That experience shaped my career: it’s where I discovered my passion for applying synthetic biology to solve environmental challenges and learned how to lead my own research project. 

I later completed a Master’s in Biotechnology in Wageningen, Netherlands, focusing on Cellular and Molecular Biology, and participated in the international iGEM competition, developing a scientific project with a small team of students and presenting it on a global stage. My journey finally brought me to Copenhagen, where I worked as an intern and then research assistant in a research group at DTU, explored industry at Novo Nordisk, and ultimately found my dream PhD position back at DTU.

My PhD project is about finding a solution to remove and degrade PFAS - "forever chemicals" - from waste waters by using a biofilter coated with engineered microorganisms. Here is a popular science summary: Imagine a chemical so tough it barely breaks down in nature. That’s the case for PFAS, a family of human-made molecules known as “forever chemicals”. First commercialized in the 50s, PFAS are used to make products that can endure heat, water, grease, and harsh chemicals. They’re everywhere: non-stick pans, firefighting foams, raincoats, burger boxes, and even shampoo. Their incredible strength comes from powerful carbon-fluorine bonds, one of the strongest in chemistry. But that’s the catch: if nature can’t easily break the bonds, PFAS don’t go away and they accumulate in water, air, soil and even our bodies, leading to serious health risks. Cleaning them up is difficult and expensive. But what if we could get microbes to do the job for us? One powerful candidate is Pseudomonas putida, a soil bacterium that thrives in harsh environments. By reprogramming it to absorb PFAS and equipping it with enzymes capable of breaking their tough bonds, we can turn it into a microscopic “PFAS sponge”. Now, to make this useful in the real world, we will also make our PFAS-eating bacteria form biofilms – slimy microbial layers similar to the ones you can find on your teeth – that can attach to surfaces inside a water filter. The result would be a living filter that captures and breaks down pfas, offering a cleaner, more sustainable solution to one of the most persistent pollutants on Earth. If I am selected to give a lecture in your class, I would like to dedicate some time in the beginning talking about the steps I followed in my career and having it be an open conversation with the students. I did not follow the most conventional path and I felt confused at multiple points, but I learnt a lot in the process and I think high schoolers could benefit from hearing that, as they soon will have to start their own journeys. Then, I would like to talk to them about my project in an appropriate level, highlighting the PFAS problem and explaining the steps that are followed to design and engineer a microorganism to address an environmental issue. That part would ideally be very interactive, and I could prepare quizzes and activities to illustrate what I am explaining in a way they can relate to.