Anything synthetic chemicals can do, biological systems can do better. That mantra is at the heart of Ariel Furst’s research. By combining the power of biology with chemistry and materials engineering, Furst develops technologies to tackle crucial problems such as environmental remediation, sustainable agriculture, and carbon sequestration.

“The best approach to solve problems is to use what biology has given us to develop a platform . . . which allows us to come to inexpensive solutions faster,” Furst says.

No one else in Furst’s family is a scientist, and as a child she didn’t aspire to study science. But her grandmother, who had overcome significant hardships in life, was an inspiration. “She was exceptionally tough but is also the kindest person I have ever known and dedicated her life to helping others,” Furst says.

Her first brush with chemistry came during a high school summer-research stint in Shelley D. Minteer’s laboratory at Saint Louis University. Furst used enzymes to extract electrons from ethanol for energy or, as she puts it, “basically power a cell phone using vodka.”

Getting perfect grades didn’t motivate Furst as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago. Her true calling was hands-on research in the laboratory, where failure was a positive thing because it generated new ideas.

Furst continued her shift toward engineering as a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology. She has since created a unique field of scientific research, says Jacqueline K. Barton, her PhD adviser. “Ariel’s work is incredibly exciting and innovative,” and she strives to develop technologies that are inexpensive, robust, and easy to use so they can “really make a difference,” Barton says. “She always takes into account that things have to be used for real-world applications.”

One of Furst’s start-ups, Seia Bio, is a case in point. She and her colleagues devised a way to create self-assembled coatings on bacterial cells to protect them from heat, humidity, and ultraviolet light. The coatings are made of food-grade chemicals and abundant metals such as iron.

After freeze-drying, the coated microbes look like a powder. The process works for many finicky bacterial strains and allows them to be shipped anywhere in the world without the need for cold storage.

Seia Bio is focused on coating nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia, and on bacteria that convert phosphorus in the soil into a form that is easier for plants to absorb. The result is a microbial fertilizer that is cheaper and more sustainable than chemical fertilizers manufactured using energy-intensive processes.

“Pretty much everything that agrochemicals do, there are microbes that we think do it better,” Furst says. “They do it more precisely and maintain the overall balance of the ecosystem much more effectively.”

She has also engineered bacteria to express proteins on their cell surfaces. The cells are freeze-dried, but the proteins remain stable and active for use. Furst says this saves the complex steps of protein isolation and purification, which is 80% of the cost of using proteins. By programming the microbes to produce various proteins, her group has created biomaterials that degrade toxic pesticides and carcinogenic pollutants in groundwater. The researchers are now applying the materials to recover rare earth elements from industrial and electronic waste.

Venturing away from bacteria, she recently developed DNA-tethered catalysts for electrodes to efficiently reduce carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, a building block for fuels and other valuable compounds. The catalyst material is a drop-in replacement for precious metal electrodes used in today’s CO₂-reducing electrolyzers, Furst says. Her start-up Helix Carbon is commercializing the technology.

Despite her success, Furst says she has struggled with imposter syndrome at various points throughout her career. “Openly discussing my experience with others has helped me realize how universal this is in academia and learn how to separate my science from my self-worth.”

Furst now fosters her love for research in the next generation of scientists by hosting a cohort of local high school students every summer. These student researchers also help her gauge whether the technologies being developed in her lab are easy to use. For Furst, the end goal of research is to create accessible technologies. “If you develop a cutting-edge technology but most of the global population can’t use it, then does it really matter?”