Researchers have found that bacteria can be used to turn plastic waste into painkillers, opening kết quả xổ số miền nam possibility of more sustainable drug production.
According to kết quả xổ số miền nam Guardian, chemists at kết quả xổ số miền nam University of Edinburgh found that E. coli can help make paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen) from plastic bottles. “kết quả xổ số miền nam technology reveals kết quả xổ số miền nam potential to combine chemistry and biology, enabling more sustainable paracetamol production while cleaning plastic waste from kết quả xổ số miền nam environment,” said Stephen Wallace, lead author of kết quả xổ số miền nam study from kết quả xổ số miền nam University of Edinburgh.
In a paper published last week in kết quả xổ số miền nam journal Nature Chemistry, Wallace and colleagues describe how they detected a type of chemical reaction called Lossen rearrangements, which is biocompatible. In other words, it is possible to carry out a reaction when there are living cells present without harming them.
kết quả xổ số miền nam team realized this when they took polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a plastic commonly found in food packaging and bottles, and then used sustainable chemistry, transforming it into a new material. When kết quả xổ số miền nam researchers annealed kết quả xổ số miền nam material with a harmless strain of E. coli, they found it transformed into another compound called Paba during kết quả xổ số miền nam process involved in kết quả xổ số miền nam Lossen rearrangements.
While kết quả xổ số miền nam Lossen rearrangement reaction usually requires strict experimental conditions, it occurs immediately in kết quả xổ số miền nam presence of E. coli, which is catalyzed by phosphate in kết quả xổ số miền nam cells themselves. According to kết quả xổ số miền nam team, Paba is kết quả xổ số miền nam essential compound that bacteria need to grow, especially DNA synthesis, which is often produced in cells from other compounds. However, E. coli used in kết quả xổ số miền nam experiment has been genetically modified to block this pathway, meaning kết quả xổ số miền nam bacteria must use PET material.
Next, kết quả xổ số miền nam researchers modified kết quả xổ số miền nam E. coli gene further, inserting two genes taken from fungi and soil bacteria, which helped kết quả xổ số miền nam bacteria modify PABA into paracetamol. When using E coli in this way, they can turn kết quả xổ số miền nam original PET-based material into paracetamol in less than 24 hours, with low gas emissions and up to 92% efficiency. Although more research is needed to produce paracetamol using kết quả xổ số miền nam above method on a commercial scale, kết quả xổ số miền nam results can be applied in practice.
Sources: kết quả xổ số miền nam Guardian
