CEAT is pleased to announce a new addition to the CEAT Innovation Hub: Membrane Transporter Engineers (MTE). MTE is the brain child of ANU Research School of Biology researchers Dr Caitlin Byrt, Dr Annamaria De Rosa and Dr Samantha McGaughey, who are all part of the Byrt Group, which is a research team working on engineering plant membrane proteins and solute transport to increase yield security.

MTE develops protein components for highly specific element and nutrient separation from complex solutions and for crop improvement purposes. MTE has designed novel protein components and tested the function of hundreds of naturally occurring diverse membrane proteins using cutting-edge and highly specialised approaches. MTE engineers value-adding components for advancing membrane separation technologies and improving plant productivity in challenging environments. The components MTE creates can be embedded in membrane-based filtration systems for gaining new functions and used in critical mineral processing, and MTE deliver components that can be incorporated in plant cell membranes for improving crop performance. 

The business is in the early start-up phase and has enormous potential to positively impact the crop industry and improve water security outcomes by delivering tools for use in boosting industrial productivity and sustainability. The technology MTE is working on is designed to enable novel harvesting and recycling of valuable resources from liquid wastes, taking us closer to achieving a circular green economy. MTE joined the CEAT Hub as our first non-residential members, and we look forward to sharing more stories from them as the business continues to grow.