https://video.igem.org/videos/watch/194972d6-3467-4702-be87-0cd7b3cd31e9 Title: MelanoShield: a wood fire-retardant coating from melanin grown in engineered E. coli Description: In January 2025, the Eaton and Palisades fires burned over 37,000 acres of Los Angeles County, destroyed 16,000 buildings, and killed 31 people. As cities turn to timber for its lower carbon cost, protecting wood matters more than ever. Yet, today’s retardants force a trade-off: halogenated compounds persist in the environment, phosphorus-based coatings alter the wood, and bio-based alternatives cannot be supplied at scale. MelanoShield proposes a third option: melanin, grown rather than harvested. Melanin’s tightly linked rings resist breaking, so it chars instead of feeding a flame. We engineered E. coli to produce it under a copper switch that also powers the enzyme, verified the pigment against a commercial standard, and sprayed it onto oak as a coating. Under flame, our best formulation matched a commercial fire protector and tripled the protection of untreated wood. A fire retardant that a cell can make. Grown, not synthesized. Wiki | Official Page Thu, 29 Oct 2026 22:23:43 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://video.igem.org https://video.igem.org/client/assets/images/icons/icon-1500x1500.png https://video.igem.org/videos/watch/194972d6-3467-4702-be87-0cd7b3cd31e9 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://video.igem.org/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.