Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

Innovation Law Center Students Help Allied Microbiota Commercialize a Clean Tech Breakthrough

Wednesday, April 10, 2019, By Martin Walls
Share
College of Law

One of the many impressive tasks that Innovation Law Center (ILC) research associates perform when writing proprietary reports for clients of the New York State Science and Technology Law Center (NYSSTLC) is getting up to speed very quickly with novel and often complex technologies. Becoming competent with groundbreaking biotechnology was certainly necessary for the report presented to Allied Microbiota, a New York City-based company that is developing a microbial product to remediate difficult-to-treat organic pollutants.

group of people

The Innovation Law Center team that worked on a proprietary research report for Allied Microbiota: 3L Trevor McDaniel, 2L Kristian Stefanides, Professor Dom Danna, 2L Christina Brule and 3L Gabrielle Sherwood.

It helped to have a couple of College of Law students with biology backgrounds working on the report.

“My undergraduate degree is in biology,” explains Senior Research Associate Gabrielle Sherwood, a third-year law student. “This project was a nice refresher on what I learned in my biology classes, although describing this complex technology was a challenge.” However, adds Sherwood, another member of her team—2L Christina Brule—holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry. “Her knowledge came in very useful for the technology description and the intellectual property section.”

Sherwood and Brule, along with 3L Trevor McDaniel and 2L Kristian Stefanides, formally presented their report to Allied Microbiota in March. Allied Microbiota Chief Executive Officer Frana James and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Ray Sambrotto describe the students’ work—which analyzes James’ company’s intellectual property claims, the potential market for its technology, and the regulatory landscape for bioremediation—as “really insightful.” “They offered us a new perspective about regulatory hurdles, prospects and certifications we probably need to get,” adds James.

James says she discovered the Innovation Law Center through her connection to FuzeHub, a New York State manufacturing extension program supported by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology & Innovation (NYSTAR). Through FuzeHub, James met NYSSTLC Associate Director Molly Zimmermann and ILC Adjunct Professor Dom Danna ’71. Eventually, Allied Microbiota joined 14 other startup technology companies that ILC students have been assisting, on behalf of NYSSTLC, during the Spring 2019 semester.

A Columbia University-trained engineer with an MBA from the India Institute of Management, James founded Allied Microbiota three years ago with Sambrotto, a research professor at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. James and Sambrotto became interested in the commercial potential of biological soil remediation products that were being developed in the lab.

three people

Allied Microbiota principals: Dr. Ray Sambrotto, founder & CTO; Frana James, founder and CEO; and Michael Chin, director of technology.

Despite some commercialization setbacks—as James says, “laboratory technologies can be difficult to scale up, and we certainly ran into our share of challenges”—yet fueled by funding and assistance from the National Science Foundation, PowerBridgeNY, SUNY Stony Brook, NYSERDA and others, Allied Microbiota is now in the large-scale testing phase for its PacBac product.

PacBac uses naturally occurring, non-pathogenic thermophilic bacteria to naturally destroy soil contaminants that are difficult and expensive to clean up using current remediation technology. These recalcitrant contaminants include a rogues’ gallery of dangerous chemicals—dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, toluene, and xylene—that are often deposited in soil by industrial processes, creating dangerously polluted brownfield sites.

“These are pretty toxic soil contaminants that resist decomposition,” observes Sambrotto. “Current treatment methods include dredging the soil and disposing of it in a landfill or thermal destruction. These methods are expensive, use a lot of energy, and are not sustainable. PacBac is both an effective and cost-effective biological solution that uses a bacterium and enzymes. It degrades contaminants very fast.”

Supervised by Professor Danna, the student research team made observations and recommendations in three areas that will help Allied Microbiota bring PacBac to market. “We created a patent landscape and researched the chances of Allied Microbiota obtaining a patent. We also completed a freedom-to-operate analysis, to see what patents are out there and to determine if Allied Microbiota may infringe any of them,” explains Sherwood. “The regulatory section was a challenge because it’s a heavily regulated sector. We identified permits required, which are often concerned not with the remediation itself but with moving contaminated soils.”

According to Sherwood, the market analysis section of the report proved very fruitful. “We identified competitors and potential customers. The market for bioremediation is potentially huge, with companies under order to clean up sites and consumers demanding more environmentally friendly methods of removing contamination.”

“The remediation market is huge,” agrees James. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, there are more than 450,000 brownfield sites in the United States and more than 1,300 “superfund” priority list sites known to be releasing extremely hazardous substances. James says the remediation market potentially could be worth $65 billion by 2025.

Allied Microbiota is currently testing PacBac in collaboration with Clean Earth, a specialty waste management company. James says that small-scale field tests have been positive, and now the companies are working together to expand the testing with the goal of eventually decontaminating commercial grade sites: “We know the product works well, and we know how to implement it. Now we need to scale it up and offer it at a commercially viable price.”

  • Author

Martin Walls

  • Recent
  • Syracuse University Press Participating in Path to Open Program
    Friday, September 29, 2023, By Cristina Hatem
  • A&S Chemistry Professor Receives Award From the American Chemical Society
    Friday, September 29, 2023, By News Staff
  • ‘Guys and Dolls’ opens Syracuse University Department of Drama 2023/24 Season
    Friday, September 29, 2023, By Joanna Penalva
  • Libraries Add MindSpa Wellness Rooms
    Friday, September 29, 2023, By Cristina Hatem
  • Syracuse University Announces the Opening of the Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and Astrophysics
    Friday, September 29, 2023, By Kerrie Marshall

More In Media, Law & Policy

Maxwell Sociologists Receive $1.8M From the NIA to Study Midlife Health and Mortality

A team of Maxwell School faculty led by Jennifer Karas Montez and Shannon Monnat have been awarded a $1.8 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to support their research on geographic disparities in midlife mortality. Montez, University…

Languages Unlock Opportunities for English for Lawyers Alumna

Languages act as a guide for communicating our goals and dreams. It’s how we make sense of the world and connect with the communities around us. Become fluent in a variety of languages, and it’s like collecting keys that unlock…

Law Student Tyriese Robinson Named Inaugural Recipient of the NDNY FCBA Hon. Norman A. Mordue ’66, L’71 Law Scholarship

The first recipient of a scholarship established in honor of the Hon. Norman A. Mordue ’66, L’71 is second-year law student Tyriese Robinson. The Northern District of New York (NDNY) Federal Court Bar Association (FCBA) Hon. Norman A. Mordue ’66,…

Robertson Fellows Aspire to Serve as Foreign Service Officers

Interested in careers in the foreign service, Zoe Prin and Forrest Gatrell took advantage of internships and other opportunities as undergraduates that exposed them to the inner workings of government, policymaking and service from differing vantage points. While Gatrell obtained…

Craig M. Boise to Conclude Tenure as College of Law Dean at End of Academic Year

When Craig M. Boise stepped into his role as dean of the College of Law in the spring of 2016, he described his vision to create “a sustainable law school that leverages the knowledge, skill and imagination of its faculty…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.