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Mussel-inspired sticky bacteria breaks down tough plastic waste faster | Annually, the U.S. generates as much as 40 million tons of plastic waste.
The engineered bacteria exhibited a 400-fold increase in adhesion to PET substrates when tested at 37 degrees Celsius.
“Very excitingly, our research holds promise for addressing the growing problem of plastic pollution in the U.S. and across the globe,” said Han Xiao, study leader and an associate professor of chemistry, biosciences, and bioengineering. Besides tackling plastic pollution, the researchers also suggest ways to prevent biofouling, which is a major problem in industries like shipping, marine construction, and water treatment. “This will open up new avenues for leveraging these interactions to develop smart material-protein conjugates for various biomedical applications like implantable medical devices, tissue engineering and drug delivery,” said Mengxi Zhang, first author of the study and a graduate student in chemistry.
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