Lab-Grown Algae Found to Clean Microplastics from Water
- Jun 22
- 3 min read
A discovery by a team at the University of Missouri may lead to an easy and natural way of cleaning microplastics from wastewater.
Led by Dr. Susie Dai—a professor in the College of Engineering and principal investigator at the Bond Life Sciences Center—the research team focused on a specific strain of alga.
They “used genetic engineering to create a new kind of algae that produces a volatile natural oil called limonene—the same chemical that gives oranges their refreshing scent,” the university said in a press release.
“Limonene makes the new algae water-repellent. Because microplastics are also water-repellent, the two come together like magnets when they meet in water, forming clumps that sink to the bottom and create a solid layer of biomass that is easy to collect and remove.”
According to a report by Harvest Public Media and KCUR/NPR in March, “[b]oth Dai’s engineered algae and the tiny pieces of plastic are hydrophobic, meaning they repel water and attract each other. By changing the genetic code of the algae, the scientists can dial up its stickiness factor, removing more than 90% of microplastics in a water sample within an hour.”
Dai’s research, which was first begun when she was at Texas A&M University, was detailed in a study with 10 colleagues published in Nature Communications in December 2025.
Microplastics—tiny fragments resulting from the breakdown of larger plastic waste—have become a pervasive environmental contaminant found in oceans, freshwater systems, and even drinking water. Their small size makes them difficult to filter out using conventional wastewater treatment methods, prompting scientists to search for more effective solutions.
Dai’s approach offers a threefold benefit. First, it directly removes microplastics from water sources. Second, the algae simultaneously absorb excess nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, helping to clean wastewater and reduce harmful algal blooms. Third, the collected biomass—including the captured plastics—can be manufactured into composite materials such as bioplastic films, supporting a circular economy.
“By removing the microplastics, cleaning the wastewater and eventually using the removed microplastics to create bioplastic products for good, we can tackle three issues with one approach,” Dai told the Show Me Mizzou news release. “While our research is still in the early stages, our eventual goal is to integrate this new process into existing wastewater treatment plants so cities can clean their water more effectively and reduce pollution while creating useful products at the same time.”
A Coincidence of Science
The discovery itself was serendipitous. Dai’s lab originally engineered the alga to produce biofuels for aviation. During testing, researchers observed the alga’s unexpected tendency to aggregate plastic particles, leading to a pivot in research focus with potentially far-reaching environmental implications.
The team is now working to scale up the technology using large bioreactors, including a 100-liter (26.4-gallon) system nicknamed “Shrek.” These systems cultivate the algae under controlled conditions, with the goal of integrating the process into existing wastewater treatment infrastructure.
Experts say scalability will be key. While laboratory results are promising, deploying the technology across municipal systems will require further testing, regulatory approval, and cost analysis. Still, early indications suggest it could complement or enhance current filtration methods.
Additional reporting highlights the broader significance of the work, noting that microplastic pollution is increasingly linked to ecological and human health concerns.
If successfully scaled, the Missouri team’s innovation could mark a turning point in how communities address one of the most persistent forms of modern pollution—transforming microscopic waste into manageable, even reusable, material.
Thank you for highlighting the enormous possibilities of lab-grown algae! It's remarkable how nature-inspired solutions may handle serious environmental challenges like microplastics. I recently participated scratch games in a local cleanup and was taken aback by the amount of plastic in our rivers.
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