In the middle of Strasbourg's Esplanade university campus, stands the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, once recognizable by its facade covered in Virginia creeper, now replaced by state-of-the-art thermal insulation. It is here, and in the neighboring building of the Institute of Physiology and Biological Chemistry, that Michael Ryckelynck and Stéphane Vuilleumier, professor-researchers in biochemistry and microbiology respectively (CNRS-Université de Strasbourg), are hard at work trying to find bacteria capable of degrading PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), these forever chemicals.

On the third floor, at the end of a maze of cramped corridors whose yellowed walls contrast sharply with the external renovation, the sound of clanking, beeping and ringing could be heard. Scientists were busy setting up their machines and starting experiments. In the middle of a corridor, the two researchers stopped in front of a poster summarizing their research project, "Microfluor," funded by the l’Agence Nationale de la Recherche since 2021. "The main advantage of bioremediation is its low energy cost and modest environmental impact," said Vuilleumier. But choosing the low-energy-cost solution can be complicated.

At the crossroads of chemistry, biology, physics and engineering, the two scientists have fashioned a robust approach "without prior assumptions." The aim is to directly identify the biological function of PFAS degradation in the environment, rather than first searching for the genes that would hypothetically encode it.

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