Koreans Create Plastic Without Fossil Fuels

Through bioengineering, a team of scientists in Korea, have made a breakthrough in the production of plastic. They have made an unnatural polymer, polyactic acid (PLA), through a natural process that bypasses the use of fossil fuels. PLA can be made into a biodegradable, less toxic, for of plastic. Before this recent discovery, PLA was made from a two step chemical process that was inefficient, expensive, and harmful to the environment. Now it can be made through a one step process that is much more efficient. The way to do this is through a developed E. Coli strain, the bacteria that lines part of our intestinal tract, that can synthesize unnatural polymers. With Global warming and other environmental difficulties plaguing the Earth right now this looks to be a very positive future for an industry that has had a very negative effect.

-Keith

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/11/23/eco.korea.plastic/index.html