Korean microbiologists have modified bacteria to produce a plastic polymer similar to nylon that can decompose in the environment. To do this, they introduced genes into the bacteria to synthesize enzymes that do not exist in nature. And although the technology is still more expensive than producing nylon from petroleum products, scientists plan to improve it and make it cheaper. Research published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
The plastic was developed from biodegradable polyesteramides, polymers that contain amide bonds, like nylon. To do this, the researchers introduced new genes into Escherichia coli cells that enabled the bacteria to form polymers with amide bonds, which they do not form in nature.
With the new genes, the bacteria produced different types of polyesteramides, including one that had physical, thermal, and mechanical properties similar to the most common type of plastic, polyethylene. However, only some of its bonds were amide, while nylon has all of them, so the new polymer cannot yet replace nylon.
But researchers have not yet been able to biologically create plastic from polymers with amide bonds. So the fact that scientists have forced bacteria to produce such a polymer is already a step towards creating a variety of biodegradable polymers that will not pollute the environment in the same way as traditional petroleum-based ones.
Thank you for being with us! Monobank for the support of the ElitExpert editorial office.
