Scientists Make Plastic Without Using Fossil Fuels
Posted by Science Oxford on December 1, 2009 | comments
This is interesting research published reports scientists have made plastic through “bio-engineering” rather than using fossil fuels.
Great news for global warming. Read on to find out more:
Visit this page »Scientists say they have managed to make plastics through “bio-engineering” rather than through the use of fossil fuels that contribute to global warming.
The findings are published in two papers in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering to mark the journal’s 50th anniversary.
Polymers are molecules found in everyday life in the form of plastics and rubbers. The researchers, from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Korean chemical company LG Chem, focused their research on polylactic acid, a biologically-based polymer.
“The polyesters and other polymers we use everyday are mostly derived from fossil oils made through the refinery or chemical process,” said Institute researcher Sang Yup Lee. Polylactic acid “is considered a good alternative to petroleum-based plastics as it is both biodegradable and has a low toxicity to humans.”
Until now the polymer had been produced in a complex, costly two-step chemical process, he added. Lee’s team developed a one-stage process in which engineered E. coli bacteria produced polylactic acid and associated polymers through fermentation, a metabolic process.
“This means that a developed E. coli strain is now capable of efficiently producing unnatural polymers, through a one-step fermentation process,” he said.
“Global warming and other environmental problems are urging us to develop sustainable processes based on renewable resources,” added Lee. “This new strategy should be generally useful for developing other engineered organisms capable of producing various unnatural polymers by direct fermentation from renewable resources.”
What do you think?