Bioengineered Gaackk???

[weaz1dls]

Ok maybee it's a little far fetched, or is it?

New ways to 'grow' plastic
Metabolix Inc., in Cambridge, Mass., has received a federal grant to re-engineer the metabolism of E. coli bacteria to help it more efficiently convert sugar into engineered biopolymers. Metabolix is developing a Biopol resin family based on polyhydroxybutyrate valerate (PHBV). The goal is to reduce the cost of PHBV grades suitable for films, coatings, and molded durable goods.

In France, surplus production of wheat and sugar beets has prompted interest in using them to make biopolymers. Erstein Sugar Refinery in the Alsace region has fermented beets into a resin suitable for packaging. The feedstock is a waste liquid by-product of beet-sugar manufacturing.

http://www.plasticstechnology.com/articles/200306bib2.html

If L-pac can be produced from similar process whats to say a gack has not already been produced for the pills. 

The frosting side in me says "Why that's it!"
The whole weaat side say's "What color is the sky in your world today?"

just some food for thought no pun intended!

[biotechdude]

Swix is very clued up on bioengineering and the like, but wouldn't no where to begin to explain the dynamics involved (for the purpose of gaak-fighting).

So if someone wishes to take a stab he may be able to get the ball rolling...

As a side, most of these bioengineered polymers and plastics are made so that CAN be destroyed or chemo/bio-degraded; unlike conventional hydrocarbon derived plastics.  The whole save money, save the environment thang... But our battle is to alter it into a state that it can be separated from our favourite amines, not just so that its safe for the environment etc

The main pain is that the after-use degedation processes are usually highly secret patented methods known only to the inventor or licensees.

As another side, a large portion of new pharmaceutical products are mass produced using large bioreactors of genetically engineered organisms (to produce antibodies, blood constituents etc).  So it would stand to reason that the latest pill inactives would also be of the bioengineered and produced variety; and not from standard analytical chemistry methods from yesteryear.

For this reason (as we're starting to see), standard solvent boils and the like just wont cut it.  We need to start SOMEWHERE and throw ideas around about using more modern techniques