TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY: Adipic Acid Detector

This technology from Los Alamos National Laboratory is a specially engineered living cell that lights up when it detects adipic acid, helping scientists quickly find better ways to make and recycle nylon using eco-friendly, biological methods.

The Challenge:

Adipic acid is a key ingredient used to make nylon-6,6, a durable plastic found in everyday items like clothing, car parts, and packaging. Today, adipic acid is mostly produced from petroleum in a process that releases harmful greenhouse gases, especially nitrous oxide. On the other end, nylon-6,6 waste accumulates in landfills and oceans, as it does not easily break down. Scientists are working to create eco-friendly ways to produce adipic acid from renewable materials like plant waste—or to recover it from discarded nylon. However, a major hurdle is the difficulty in quickly identifying or improving the enzymes and microbes needed for this green production and recycling.

Problems Solved:

This invention offers a powerful solution: a living microbial biosensor that can "smell" or detect adipic acid and light up when it’s present. This process allows researchers to quickly and efficiently identify which engineered microbes or enzymes are producing or breaking down adipic acid. To build this sensor, the inventors overcame a major scientific barrier by customizing both a transporter (to bring adipic acid into the cell) and a gene regulator (to recognize adipic acid specifically). With this system in place, scientists can now rapidly screen millions of microbial variants to find the best performers. This invention dramatically speeds up the discovery and optimization of biological tools for producing sustainable plastics and recycling plastic waste, contributing to a cleaner environment and a greener chemical industry.

Key Advantages:

• High-Throughput Screening: It allows scientists to rapidly test and sort through millions of microbial or enzyme variants, quickly identifying those that can efficiently produce or degrade adipic acid.
• Real-Time Detection: The biosensor "lights up" in response to adipic acid, enabling immediate visual confirmation of production inside living cells—without complex lab procedures.
• Enables Bioplastic Recycling: It helps discover and optimize biological tools that break down nylon-6,6 waste, supporting more effective and scalable plastic recycling solutions.
• Solves a Technical Bottleneck: It overcomes the “chicken-and-egg” challenge in synthetic biology—you need a sensor to optimize a transporter, and a transporter to build the sensor—by engineering both together in one system.
• Highly Specific and Tunable: The detector shows a more than 50-fold increase in specificity for adipic acid over similar molecules, making it precise enough for advanced biotechnological applications.

Market Applications:

• Biomanufacturing and Industrial Biotechnology
• Plastic and Polymer Recycling
• Textile and Apparel Industry
• Chemical and Specialty Materials
• Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering

Development Status: TRL 3

US Patent pending

LA-UR-25-28198

LANL Tech Partnerships: Unlock the Innovative Potential

Los Alamos National Laboratory offers a wide range of cutting-edge technologies and capabilities that may provide your company with a competitive edge in the market and unlock the innovative potential that can enhance, refine, and revolutionize your products.

LANL’s licensing program focuses on moving inventions developed by our researchers to commercial innovations. Patented and patent pending inventions and copyrighted software are available to existing and start-up companies through exclusive and non-exclusive licensing agreements. For specific discussions, please contact licensing@lanl.gov.

Note: This is not a call for external services for the development of this technology.

https://www.lanl.gov/engage/collaboration/feynman-center/partner-with-us/licensing-technology

https://www.lanl.gov/engage/collaboration/feynman-center/tech-and-capability-search