Scientists Use Bacteria To Turn Plastic Waste Into Paracetamol (theguardian.com)
- Reference: 0178153405
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/06/23/1945219/scientists-use-bacteria-to-turn-plastic-waste-into-paracetamol
- Source link: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jun/23/scientists-use-e-coli-bacteria-to-turn-plastic-waste-into-paracetamol-painkiller
> Chemists have [1]discovered E coli can be used to create paracetamol , also known as acetaminophen, from a material produced in the laboratory from plastic bottles. "People don't realise that paracetamol comes from oil currently," said Prof Stephen Wallace, the lead author of the research from the University of Edinburgh. "What this technology shows is that by merging chemistry and biology in this way for the first time, we can make paracetamol more sustainably and clean up plastic waste from the environment at the same time."
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> Writing in the journal Nature Chemistry, 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. The team made their discovery when they took polyethylene terephthalate (PET) -- a type of plastic often found in food packaging and bottles -- and, using sustainable chemical methods, converted it into a new material.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jun/23/scientists-use-e-coli-bacteria-to-turn-plastic-waste-into-paracetamol-painkiller
How to get rid of Pacific garbage patch ... (Score:2)
If they can find the little plastic eating critter that produces an opiate the Pacific garbage patch problem will probably be solved pretty quickly.
Re: (Score:1)
No, because our porn laptops will get eaten.
I strongly suspect.. (Score:2)
That the overhead to commercialize and produce this will create more oil waste than to use the old oil-based procedure.
This will cure the headache ... (Score:2)
of what to do with plastic waste.
well you can also (Score:2)
"People don't realise that paracetamol comes from oil currently"
What people. Everyone knows that most of our drugs come from hydrocarbons. Also, fertilizer, laxatives, plastics, cosmetics, explosives, artificial flavors and colors, buttloads of food additives, I could go on.. The oil industry finds ways to make all that crude into products.
"we can make paracetamol more sustainably and clean up plastic waste from the environment at the same time."
That's extremely optimistic. The amount of plastic waste is in
Better to make more popular drugs (Score:2)
If they could make methamphetamine, diacetylmorphine, or alprazolam, not only would this be a much larger volume of drugs, there'd be an instant industry competing to make the most of them from such easily-obtained precursors.
Coming soon... (Score:2)
Genetic modifications to turn all those microplastics in your body into soothing pain relief.
Re: (Score:2)
> Genetic modifications to turn all those microplastics in your body into soothing pain relief.
Then all that acetaminophen destroys your liver. No thanks. Micro-plastics or liver transplant? Hmm...
Re: (Score:2)
Average consumption is ~250mg annually. That's half of one tablet, which makes it 1/4 of a regular dose, and it's not entirely clear how much is retained and what the conversion ratio is. I wouldn't be surprised if other byproducts were more dangerous.
You're allowed to take 8 paracetamol tablets per day, which means it's safe to purge 16 YEARS worth of microplastics per day, assuming a 1:1 ratio of plastic to paracetamol and no other side effects.
Unless you convert an entire lifetime of microplastics in a d