Lea-Smith, David J.Hassard, FrancisCoulon, FredericPartridge, NatalieHorsfall, LouiseParker, Kyle D. J.Smith, Robert D. J.McCarthy, Ronan R.McKew, Boyd A.Gutierrez, TonyKumar, VinodDotro, GabriellaYang, ZhugenCurtis, Thomas P.Golyshin, PeterHeaven, SoniaJefferson, BruceJeffrey, PaulJones, Davey L.Le Corre Pidou, KristellLiu, YongqiangLyu, TaoSmith, CindyYakunin, AlexanderZhang, YueKrasnogor, Natalio2025-04-242025-04-242025-04Lea-Smith DJ, Hassard F, Coulon F, et al., (2025) Engineering biology applications for environmental solutions: potential and challenges. Nature Communications, Volume 16, April 2025, Article number 35382041-1723https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58492-0https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/23832Engineering biology applies synthetic biology to address global environmental challenges like bioremediation, biosequestration, pollutant monitoring, and resource recovery. This perspective outlines innovations in engineering biology, its integration with other technologies (e.g., nanotechnology, IoT, AI), and commercial ventures leveraging these advancements. We also discuss commercialisation and scaling challenges, biosafety and biosecurity considerations including biocontainment strategies, social and political dimensions, and governance issues that must be addressed for successful real-world implementation. Finally, we highlight future perspectives and propose strategies to overcome existing hurdles, aiming to accelerate the adoption of engineering biology for environmental solutions.enAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/46 Information and Computing Sciences4104 Environmental Management41 Environmental SciencesBiotechnologyBioengineeringEBIC partnersApplied microbiologyBioremediationEnvironmental biotechnologyGovernanceMolecular engineeringSynthetic BiologyNanotechnologyBiodegradation, EnvironmentalHumansBioengineeringHumansNanotechnologyBiodegradation, EnvironmentalBioengineeringSynthetic BiologySynthetic BiologyNanotechnologyBiodegradation, EnvironmentalHumansBioengineeringArticle2041-1723672770353816