Writing in the journal Nature Chemistry,<\/a> Wallace and colleagues report how they discovered that a type of chemical reaction called a Lossen rearrangement, a process that has never been seen in nature, was biocompatible. In other words, it could be carried out in the presence of living cells without harming them.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe team made their discovery when they took polyethylene terephthalate (PET) \u2013 a type of plastic often found in food packaging and bottles \u2013 and, using sustainable chemical methods, converted it into a new material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the researchers incubated this material with a harmless strain of E coli they found it was converted into another substance known as Paba in a process that must have involved a Lossen rearrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crucially, while the Lossen rearrangement typically involves harsh laboratory conditions, it occurred spontaneously in the presence of the E coli, with the researchers discovering it was catalysed by phosphate within the cells themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The team add that Paba is an essential substance that bacteria need for growth, in particular the synthesis of DNA, and is usually made within the cell from other substances. However, the E coli used in the experiments was genetically modified to block these pathways, meaning the bacteria had to use the PET-based material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The researchers say the results are exciting as they suggest plastic waste can be converted into biological material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is a way to just completely hoover up plastic waste,\u201d said Wallace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The researchers then genetically modified the E coli further, inserting two genes \u2013 one from mushrooms and one from soil bacteria \u2013 that enabled the bacteria to convert PABA into paracetamol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The team say that by using this form of E coli they were able to turn the PET-based starting material into paracetamol in under 24 hours, with low emissions and a yield of up to 92%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While further work would be needed to produce paracetamol in this way at commercial levels, the results could have a practical application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt enables, for the first time, a pathway from plastic waste to paracetamol, which is not possible using biology alone, and it\u2019s not possible using chemistry alone,\u201d Wallace said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you needed proof that pharmaceuticals are trash, here you go. And paracetamol is another name for acetaminophen, a petrochemical. https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2025\/jun\/23\/scientists-use-e-coli-bacteria-to-turn-plastic-waste-into-paracetamol-painkiller Genetically modified E coliused to create painkillers from material produced from plastic bottles By Nicola Davis Bacteria can be used to turn plastic waste into painkillers, researchers have found, opening up the possibility of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12466,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12465\/revisions\/12466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}