Comment bacteria can make plastic too (Score 2) 105
Bacteria have been investigated as a source of biodegradable plastics for quite a while now.
The species Alcaligenes eutrophes (probably haven't remembered it properly) can convert things like molasses waste into a short chain polymer called polyhydroxybutanoate (PHB). PHB accumulates inside the bacteria as solid granules called inclusion bodies...when you want to make plastic, you burst open your bugs, collect the PHB inclusion bodies, and then mould it into plastic (i think with heat...could be wrong).
This type of plastic was used to produce some test products in Europe a few years ago...shampoo bottles, disposable containers etc etc...they found that the containers were biodegraded within a several months when placed in conditions like the bottom of a lake, or in landfill.
Last i read about this sort of plastic was that the cost of the raw materials (molasses waste, glucose, ethanol) made PHB derived plastic too expensive compared to traditional oil-produced plastic. Scientists were messing around with regulatory genes, and moving the PHB synthesis pathway genes to other bacteria, to try an improved the efficiency of the process
The species Alcaligenes eutrophes (probably haven't remembered it properly) can convert things like molasses waste into a short chain polymer called polyhydroxybutanoate (PHB). PHB accumulates inside the bacteria as solid granules called inclusion bodies...when you want to make plastic, you burst open your bugs, collect the PHB inclusion bodies, and then mould it into plastic (i think with heat...could be wrong).
This type of plastic was used to produce some test products in Europe a few years ago...shampoo bottles, disposable containers etc etc...they found that the containers were biodegraded within a several months when placed in conditions like the bottom of a lake, or in landfill.
Last i read about this sort of plastic was that the cost of the raw materials (molasses waste, glucose, ethanol) made PHB derived plastic too expensive compared to traditional oil-produced plastic. Scientists were messing around with regulatory genes, and moving the PHB synthesis pathway genes to other bacteria, to try an improved the efficiency of the process
