#12 — Estelle Clerc, CellX Biosolutions: Bacteria That Eat Forever Chemicals, From PhD to Startup, and Why Regulation Drives Cleantech

PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals, are everywhere: in our pans, our cosmetics, our water, and our soil. Estelle Clerc, Co-Founder and CEO of CellX Biosolutions, explains how her team finds natural bacteria that can break them down, going against the conventional wisdom that PFAS is not biodegradable. We discuss her “microfluidic fishing rod” for catching the right bacteria, why natural bacterial teams beat genetic engineering, scaling from lab pilots to treating industrial wastewater and polluted soil, and whether bacteria are safe to release. We also explore turning an ETH PhD into a startup, Zurich’s growing innovation hub, and why she believes Europe’s strict pollution rules are an enabler: you cannot produce if you cannot clean.
Thank you for listening!
GUEST
CellX Biosolutions: cellx.ch
SPONSORS
ETH Juniors: ethjuniors.ch
ETH Student Project House: sph.ethz.ch
PODCAST LINKS
Europe on Edge: europeonedge.com
Europe on Edge on LinkedIn: Europe on Edge (linkedin.com/company/europeonedge)
SOCIAL
X: @fbar3000 (x.com/fbar3000)
LinkedIn: Filipe Barata (linkedin.com/in/filipe-barata)