Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40328834›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Cost-effective urine recycling enabled by a synthetic osteoyeast platform for production of hydroxyapatite.

Isaak E Müller, Alex Y W Lin, Yusuke Otani, Xinyi Zhang, Zong-Yen Wu, David Kisailus, Nigel J Mouncey, Jeremy S Guest, Behzad Rad, Peter Ercius and 1 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. EngineeringACS synthetic biology · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Isaak E Müller *The US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Alex Y W Lin *The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Yusuke Otani *The US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Xinyi Zhang *The Grainger College of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5858-9511
Zong-Yen WuThe US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
David KisailusDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California at, Irvine, CA, USA.
Nigel J MounceyThe US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5380-1256
Jeremy S GuestThe Grainger College of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA. jsguest@illinois.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2489-2579
Behzad RadThe Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA. brad@lbl.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6531-9168
Peter ErciusThe Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA. percius@lbl.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6762-9976
Yasuo YoshikuniThe US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA. yyoshikuni@lbl.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8372-640X

Funding

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) DE-AC02-05CH11231
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Recycling human urine offers a sustainable solution to environmental challenges posed by conventional wastewater treatment. While it is possible to recover nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from urine, the low economic value of these products limits large-scale adoption. Here, we show that engineered yeast can convert urine into hydroxyapatite (HAp), a high-value biomaterial widely used in bone and dental applications. Inspired by the biological mechanisms of bone-forming cells, we develop a synthetic yeast platform osteoyeast, which uses enzymes to break down urea and increase the pH of the surrounding environment. This triggers the yeast vacuoles to accumulate calcium and phosphate as amorphous calcium phosphate, which is then secreted in vesicles and crystallized into HAp. We achieve HAp production at titers exceeding 1 g/L directly from urine. Techno-economic analysis demonstrates that this process offers clear economic and environmental advantages, making it a compelling strategy for high-value resource recovery from human waste.

Indexed as

DurapatiteRecyclingSaccharomyces cerevisiaeUrineCalcium PhosphatesCost-Benefit AnalysisHumansHydrogen-Ion ConcentrationUreaamorphous calcium phosphateCalcium PhosphatesDurapatiteUrea

Identifiers

PMID40328834
PMCPMC12056147

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.