Beyond infections, bacteria reveal promise for making medicines and protecting crops
Researchers are exploring how specific bacteria can be used to produce bioplastics and pharmaceuticals. These findings suggest that microbes could help create sustainable materials and new treatments for neurological conditions like Parkinson's disease.
Why it matters
Harnessing bacterial processes offers a sustainable alternative to traditional plastic manufacturing and a novel pathway for drug development.
edited by Swati Mestri , reviewed by Andrew Zinin
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Add to Preferred Sources Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Bacteria get a bad reputation—with all the outbreaks , infections and deaths .
Some bacteria are turning this assumption on its head.
Scientists at the Bioplastics Innovation Hub recently discovered a type of bacteria that could grow bioplastic, specifically polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA).
Salinivibrio bacteria belong to the large Vibrionaceae family of marine bacteria, which thrive in hypersaline environments such as the salt lakes of Wadjemup/Rottnest Island.
Murdoch University researchers decoded the bacteria's genomes to shed more light on their full capabilities. They examined each gene to pinpoint those that could produce PHA.
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