This project, funded by the “César Nombela” Talent Atraction Grants, awarded by the Madrid Regional Government, aims at the in silico discovery and design of BIOlogics for REcycling and REusing polymeric materials used for aircraft coatings. Analysing the metagenomes from extremophilic microbiomes responsible of the corrosion events in the wing area, exposed to temperatures from -45°C to +50°C and to kerosene, we want to learn from their degradation mechanisms of these organic materials. We will use state-of-the-art OMICS, Bioinformatics, Big Data management, Deep Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence tools reinforced with trained language models. These tools will enable us to best access, identify, and de novo design organic polymers and composite materials-degrading extremozymes, derived from specialist extremophiles. BIORE2AIRCRAFT will lay the groundwork for first-ever disruptive technologies that, in the long term, will enable circularity for entire aircrafts and contribute to carbon-neutral growth in the aerospace sector. These benefits could also extend to the sustainable management of waste materials in construction, demolition, automobile and epoxy industry.

The One Health approach highlights the connection between human health and microbiomes, demanding a deep understanding of the beneficial molecular components and the mechanisms that promote their development. It is crucial to identify microbiome-based effectors and enhancers with clinical applications, which requires high-quality metadata, digital tools (artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, computing), for integration and analysis in clinical contexts, and validation in experimental laboratories. The BAI4MAC project proposes a strategic alliance that integrates bioinformatics, computational techniques, machine learning and laboratory techniques to generate and process microbiome OMICS metadata and discover immune enhancers in HIV and advanced lung cancer. For the latter, also with the aim of evaluating the effect of microbiota transplant on clinical improvement.

The target of this project is to develop bioremediation / revitalization strategies based on assemblies of multiple biologics, developed and applied on matrices from different EU contaminated sites: groundwater, sediments (hyporheic zone), wastewater as well as industrial, and agricultural soils. The assembly of systems is guided using predictive microbial interaction models in the microbiome of the actual site matrix to be decontaminated. Our ambition is to remove at least 90% of the main contaminants of polluted sites (e.g. plastics and pesticides in the agricultural soil, and chlorinated solvents/total petroleum hydrocarbon in groundwater and sediments of the industrial site) and improve their biodiversity status. The approach includes the implementation of a Biological Toolbox for designing efficacious degrading catalytic agents. Bioremediation/revitalization strategies undergo a full assessment: ecological and environmental risk analyses, technology risk analysis, life cycle assessment, life cycle cost, cost-efficiency analysis, biosafety & regulatory constraints analysis, and societal analysis to be finally benchmarked with current solutions.