🔥 Bacteria Turn Plastic Bottles Into a Drug for Parkinson's Disease

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have genetically engineered E. coli bacteria to convert plastic waste into levodopa, a key medication used to treat Parkinson's disease.

⚙️ PET plastic used to make water and soda bottles is first broken down into basic chemical components. The bacteria then convert those compounds into levodopa through a series of biochemical reactions.

Researchers have already taught bacteria to recycle plastic. The same group has previously produced vanillin, adipic acid, and even paracetamol from PET. But this is the first time the end product has been a complex drug used to treat a neurological disorder—and the scientists believe many more could follow.

"If we can create medicines for neurological disease from a waste plastic bottle, it's exciting to imagine what else this technology could achieve," says study leader Stephen Wallace.

❗️ For now, this is still a proof of concept. Before the method can be applied in practice, researchers must confirm that the final product contains no harmful impurities and determine how to scale the process for industrial production.

What should we do with plastic?

❤️ — Recycle it
🤔 — Stop using it

@hiaimediaen