Designing New Enzymes for Sustainable Fertilizer
The Chemical Engineering Department is hosting a special graduate lecture on Designing New Enzymes for Sustainable Fertilizer.
Abstract:
The Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) at the University of Saskatchewan is dedicated to advancing sustainable agriculture through cutting-edge research and innovation. Our institute offers a suite of Technology Platforms and services that support discovery, development, and deployment of innovative solutions. In this presentation, we will highlight our platform capabilities and focus on a technical case study titled "Designing New Enzymes for Sustainable Fertilizer." Global agriculture relies heavily on synthetic phosphorus (P) fertilizers, which are environmentally damaging, finite, and geographically limited in availability. Unlike nitrogen, P is not cycled through the atmosphere and is released slowly from mineral sources, contributing to CO₂ emissions and water eutrophication.
Phytase enzymes can unlock bioavailable P from phytate in soil and manure, but existing enzymes are not optimized for these environments. Leveraging advanced protein design tools, our project aims to engineer novel phytases with enhanced activity and stability in manure, offering a renewable alternative to synthetic P fertilizers. These enzymes will be expressed in microbial systems and screened using high-throughput automation, showcasing how GIFS integrates innovation and infrastructure to address global food security challenges.
Biography:
Megha Bajaj, Business Lead- Global Institute for Food Security Megha holds a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Alberta and an M.Sc. from MS University, India. She oversees the business operations of the Engineering Biology Platform at the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS), where she supports grant writing, customer outreach, quoting, and contract negotiation and management. Prior to joining GIFS, Megha worked at Innovate Calgary—the technology transfer office and business incubator of the University of Calgary—where she contributed to intellectual property strategy and the commercialization of new inventions.
She brings extensive experience in establishing productive collaborations with diverse stakeholders, negotiating legal and financial terms in revenue-generating agreements, and fostering industry partnerships. Megha also held a similar role at the University of Alberta’s technology transfer office (formerly TEC Edmonton). In her spare time, she volunteers with the Saskatoon Open Door Society, supporting fundraising efforts for immigrant services, and serves as a board member with the SIGMA program at the University of Saskatchewan, mentoring technology-based startup companies.
Ben Scott holds a B.Sc. in Life Sciences and an M.Sc. in Medical Sciences from McMaster University, as well as a Ph.D. in Cell & Systems Biology from the University of Toronto. He leads the technical operations of the Engineering Biology Platform at the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS). Prior to joining GIFS, Ben completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where he worked at their microbial biofoundry in Maryland. He later returned to Canada to lead business development at the Concordia University Genome Foundry. These roles deepened his appreciation for laboratory automation and its potential to expand the scale and scope of engineering biology.
In 2018, Ben founded SynBio Canada, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening the national synthetic biology research community, advocating for trainee needs, and showcasing their achievements. He currently serves as a board member of SynBio Canada and as an advisor for New Harvest’s Cellular Agriculture Prairies Ecosystem (CAPE) project.