US Patent 12116420 Functionalizing biological substrates with bioengineered peptides to bind targeted molecules

Method of removing or adsorbing a target substance or material, for example a metal, non-metal toxin, dye, or small molecule drug), from solution by functionalizing a substrate with a peptide configured to selectively bind to the target substance or material and to bind to the substrate. Methods herein are useful for example for biomining applications. More specifically, the method employs metal-binding peptides to remove metals from solution, particularly aqueous solution. More specifically, the substrate is fungal mycelium. Fusion peptides and/or proteins containing metal-binding domain sequence and optionally containing substrate-binding domain sequence are provided. Fusion peptides/proteins containing a metal-binding domain and a chitin-binding domain are provided. Also provided are nucleic acids encoding fusion peptides and/or proteins containing metal-binding domain sequence and those further containing a substrate-binding domain, for example a carbohydrate-binding domain, and more specifically a chitin-binding domain.