The concept for this collaborative project emerged from discussions between artists and scientists. It presents a futuristic vision of a bio-farm where ants live in symbiosis with bacteria to recycle plastic. The movements of the ants were transposed into an interactive sound installation.
The project was showcased during the Polytech.Science.Art Week at the GARAGE Museum in Moscow.
This project demonstrates the developmental stage of a bio-farm designed to produce biodiesel from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste. PET is one of the most widely used plastics by humans, and its biodegradation occurs through the breakdown of its polymer molecules by bacteria that can sever ester bonds. The process is carried out by the bacterium
Thermobifida fusca (hay bacillus), which produces polyester hydrolase to facilitate polyester hydrolysis during its life cycle. These bacteria coexist in symbiosis with the bioengineered ant species
Acromyrmex Petus, which is genetically modified from its precursor, the leaf-cutter ant.
Acromyrmex Petus uses its powerful mandibles to cut PET sheets into small pieces, similar to how leaf-cutter ants process leaves. The ants deliver the shredded plastic to their nest cells, where the bacteria
Thermobifida fusca metabolize it as a food source. Since PET lacks nitrogen, the bacterial culture derives it from the soil. To support this, legume crops are planted near the nest, where nodule bacteria in the plant roots bind atmospheric nitrogen and convert it into more bioavailable compounds for the soil. A by-product of the bacteria’s metabolism is fatty acids, which are extracted from the bacterial chamber via a semipermeable membrane. These fatty acids are esterified to produce fatty acid methyl esters, or biodiesel fuel. The ants are fed by a bacterial film that grows on the walls of the chamber.
Technology:- PET → Acromyrmex Petus ants (grind and transport PET to the bacterial chamber) → Thermobifida fusca bacteria (PET hydrolysis) → Fatty acids (bacterial by-product) → Esterification of fatty acids → Biodiesel fuel.
Technological Foundations:- The presence of the enzyme hydrolase in Thermobifida fusca facilitates polyester decomposition.
- The feasibility of bacterial decomposition of various plastics (supported by numerous studies).
- The symbiosis between leaf-cutter ants and their nutritional source, as well as various symbioses between ants and bacteria.
- Fatty acids as a by-product of bacterial activity.
- The industrial technology of esterification of fatty acids into methyl esters; biodiesel is currently produced by transesterification of vegetable oils (comprising triglycerides of fatty acids) and animal fats.
- The existence of semipermeable membranes that allow selective substances to pass through in one direction.
- Nodule bacteria’s unique ability to bind atmospheric nitrogen and convert it into organic nitrogen compounds.