Modified Bacteria Convert Plastic Waste Into Pain Reliever

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Genetically engineered Escherichia coli bacteria converted a broken-down plastic bottle into the active ingredient in pain medicines like Tylenol and Panadol, scientists report June 23 in Nature Chemistry.

The approach could help reduce plastic pollution and curb reliance on the fossil fuels now used to make the ubiquitous medication. I genuinely think this is quite an exciting sort of starting point for plastic waste upcycling," says Stephen Wallace, an engineering biologist at the University of Edinburgh.

[...] Before setting the bacteria to work on manufacturing pharmaceuticals, the researchers backed up a step and tested the microbes' ability to create a necessary precursor molecule called para-aminobenzoic acid, or PABA, from plastic. And key to that step was seeing if E. coli can support an essential chemical reaction called a Lossen rearrangement, which alters the structure of a nitrogen-bearing molecule to make PABA.

The scientists modified E. coli so that it couldn't make PABA through its regular biological pathway. That way, the cells would die without getting PABA (which is also essential in making the vitamin folic acid) through another route. They then gave those bacteria a starting compound that turns into PABA only after going through a Lossen rearrangement. The cells lived - a clear sign that the Lossen rearrangement was taking place.

Next, the researchers prepared the same starting compound by chemically breaking down a plastic bottle ingredient known as polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. Again, the E. coli thrived, turning the plastic-based precursor into PABA.

Turning plastic waste into fuel for organisms is interesting in its own right, Wallace says. But he and his colleagues took the reaction a step further. With some additional genetic instructions, E. coli can convert PABA into paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, the active ingredient in the painkillers Tylenol, Calpol and Panadol.

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