Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Bioplastics

Rethinking sustainability through synthetic biology

The use of bacterial biofilms provides a bioplastic that is biodegradable, water processable, and coatable, opening new avenues for plastic alternatives.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Sustainable aquaplastic production from engineered bacterial biofilms.

References

  1. Nguyen, P. Q., Courchesne, N.-M. D., Duraj-Thatte, A., Praveschotinunt, P. & Joshi, N. S. Adv. Mater. 30, 1704847 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Srubar, W.V. Trends Biotechnol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2020.10.009 (2020).

  3. Schmieden, D. T. et al. ACS Synth. Biol. 7, 1328–1337 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Jacob, R. S. et al. Biomaterials 54, 97–105 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Duraj-Thatte, A. M. et al. Adv. Mater. 31, 1901826 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Huang, J. et al. Nat. Chem. Biol. 15, 34–41 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Heveran, C. M. et al. Matter 2, 481–494 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Duraj-Thatte, A. M. et al. Nat. Chem. Biol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-021-00773-y (2021).

  9. Lau, W. W. Y. et al. Science 369, 1455–1461 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Nguyen, P. Q., Botyanszki, Z., Tay, P. K. R. & Joshi, N. S. Nat. Commun. 5, 4945 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anne S. Meyer.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kovelakuntla, V., Meyer, A.S. Rethinking sustainability through synthetic biology. Nat Chem Biol 17, 630–631 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-021-00804-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-021-00804-8

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research