One such solution might start with the food on our plates. A 2024 Nature Food study found that if Canadians were to substitute some of the red meat and processed meat they eat with plant-based proteins, diet-related greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by up to 25%. The more plant-based our diets, in short, the better it could be for the environment. 

Unfortunately, from a nutritional standpoint, it can be difficult for people to get sufficient iron from plants alone. This is why Dr. Tslil Ast from the Department of Biomolecular Sciences is researching how to make crops absorb and store more iron. Inspired by a small worm that can take iron directly from its environment using a specialized protein, Dr. Ast’s team is testing promising protein candidates in yeast. The best proteins can then be introduced into plants to help them become more nutritionally complete.   

This is just one of several exciting advances that researchers at the Institute for Environmental Sustainability (IES) have made over the past year. At the heart of each discovery is a belief in the magic that happens when brilliant scientists from different disciplines come together with a shared purpose. This belief is shared by the community of Canadian supporters whose long-standing generosity has made this work possible.  

The IES has 60 labs in areas that include molecular biology, chemistry, physics, ecology, data science, and more. We see this spirit of collaboration reflected again and again in the following groundbreaking research.  

Molecular science meets sustainable technology 

Electronic devices have transformed the way we live, but they come with an environmental cost that includes enormous electricity consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and toxic heavy-metal waste. Profs. Mordechai Sheves and David Cahen from the Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science have discovered that certain proteins can conduct electricity over longer distances than previously thought possible while remaining stable and biodegradable. They are now researching which combinations of proteins are the most energy-efficient by calculating the amount of heat they give off. To do this, they use a nanothermometer developed by Prof. Eli Zeldov from the Department of Condensed Matter Physics. These discoveries could lead to bio-electronic devices that use less power, require less cooling, and are biodegradable. 

A similar combination of chemistry and materials science is being used to reimagine batteries. Today’s lithium-ion batteries depend on lithium, which is a relatively scarce and expensive resource. Sodium-ion batteries would be an abundant and inexpensive alternative, but sodium ions are larger than lithium ions and do not fit efficiently into the graphite materials used in conventional batteries. Dr. Elena Meirzadeh from the Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science is turning the problem on its head by creating new carbon-based battery anodes that are designed to work with sodium ions. Using sophisticated precision tools, her team can determine which materials perform best. This research is advancing sustainable energy storage and carbon-based technologies. 

Another recent study that could lead to safer, more powerful batteries comes from Prof. Michal Leskes’s laboratory in the Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science Department. Lithium metal batteries have the potential to store much more energy than lithium-ion batteries do. However, lithium metal is highly reactive and can pose a fire hazard. To investigate the source of this reactivity, the researchers used an advanced technique to study the precise chemical interaction that happens within the battery. This allowed them to identify the cause of the dangerous reactions and provided new insights that can be used to develop the next generation of batteries. 

Life sciences inform sustainable food production and public health 

Prof. Asaph Aharoni of the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences is designing plants that can be used as part of a wide range of sustainable solutions. In a recent episode of The Sound of Science podcast, he describes his team’s work to produce cow’s milk proteins in soy plants. Imagine a plant-based mozzarella! This approach could reduce the methane emissions, water use, and land use required for dairy production. Prof. Aharoni is also developing colourful plant-based pigments that can be used as safe and sustainable alternatives to synthetic food colouring and textile dyes.  

Other examples of how molecular biology can affect public health include research from Dr. Orly Laufman from the Department of Molecular Genetics. She is studying bird viruses at the molecular level to understand their effects on avian and human health. Prof. Zvulun Elazar from the Department of Biomolecular Sciences, on the other hand, is looking at how our cells respond to harmful chemical exposures to improve environmental risk assessments and potential interventions. 

Ecology with a dash of data modelling 

To understand environmental change better, researchers have to look for patterns that can be too large to see directly. That’s why Profs. Einat Segev and David Zeevi from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences are combining their laboratory observations with computational analysis to gain new insight into ocean health. They study marine bacteria that have evolved to survive when nutrients are scarce. By examining the genomes and proteins of these bacteria, they can identify “starvation” signatures that will allow researchers to map which regions of the ocean are nutrient-rich and which are lacking. 

Prof. Yinon Bar-On from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences is also taking a data-driven approach to soil, which can store roughly twice as much carbon as the atmosphere. Using new models to predict soil carbon decay, he can make reliable predictions about soil carbon using limited data. This can help reduce uncertainty in future climate predictions. 

As we have seen, the IES’s model of collaboration attracts expert researchers from a wide range of scientific disciplines, from materials and biomolecular science to condensed matter physics and plant and environmental science. These few examples provide a window into the wealth of innovative ideas percolating within the IES today—ideas that are shaping the world of tomorrow.