Microbes and Plastic – A Sustainable Duo for the Future

Chapter 24 Microbes and Plastic – A Sustainable Duo for the Future Birger Wolter, Birger WolterSearch for more papers by this authorHenric M.T. Hintzen, Henric M.T. HintzenSearch for more papers by this authorGina Welsing, Gina WelsingSearch for more papers by this authorTill Tiso, Till TisoSearch for more papers by this authorLars M. Blank, Lars M. BlankSearch for more papers by this author Birger Wolter, Birger WolterSearch for more papers by this authorHenric M.T. Hintzen, Henric M.T. HintzenSearch for more papers by this authorGina Welsing, Gina WelsingSearch for more papers by this authorTill Tiso, Till TisoSearch for more papers by this authorLars M. Blank, Lars M. BlankSearch for more papers by this author Book Editor(s):Frans J. de Bruijn, Frans J. de Bruijn INRAE/CNRS, LIPME, Castanet Tolosan Cedex, FranceSearch for more papers by this authorHauke Smidt, Hauke Smidt Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, NetherlandsSearch for more papers by this authorLuca S. Cocolin, Luca S. Cocolin University of Torino, Torino, ItalySearch for more papers by this authorMichael Sauer, Michael Sauer University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, AustriaSearch for more papers by this authorDavid Dowling, David Dowling Institute of Technology Carlow, Carlow, IrelandSearch for more papers by this authorLinda Thomashow, Linda Thomashow USDA-ARS, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USASearch for more papers by this author First published: 14 September 2022 https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119762621.ch24 AboutPDFPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShareShare a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract Plastics are widely used in the global economy. The packaging, building, and automotive industry represent the largest application fields for plastics but also in the electronic, household, and agriculture segments, plastic-based products are indispensable. At the beginning of the 1970s, researchers started to understand how to engineer DNA rationally and bring this synthetic DNA alive in microbes. A new area, the area of gene technology, was born. The actual beneficial attributes of plastics for application purposes led to major challenges in their disposal. The ability to produce plastic monomers can be a natural property of microorganisms, or they can be "trained" to produce monomers of interest. The chapter discusses Bio-based plastics as a replacement for fossil-based plastics. Lactic acid is not only a natural product in humans and microorganisms but also produced industrially. Microorganisms produce a broad spectrum of sugar polymers, which play a role in various physiological processes. Good Microbes in Medicine, Food Production, Biotechnology, Bioremediation, and Agriculture RelatedInformation