A new study has revealed that a drug has been produced from plastic bottles using a bacterium, which could help treat Parkinson’s disease.
This is the first time that plastic waste has been broken down through a natural biological process to create a medicine for a neurological disease, aiming to improve the lives of those affected by the condition.
Scientists at the University of Edinburgh engineered a bacterium called E. coli to convert plastic used in food and beverage packaging, known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), into L-DOPA, a compound used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
Traditional methods of producing Parkinson’s drugs rely on fossil fuels. Therefore, recycling plastic in this way is considered a more sustainable approach.
