With dramatic developments and rapid jumps in genetic engineering, we must unleash our imagination to imagine what our children's future will be and even our immediate future. But this is not fiction; in the near future we will be planting plastics.
Of course not in this literal sense, but it will be a secondary product for the cultivation of crops such as maize and soybeans. A team of Purdue University researchers cloned a gene from a known laboratory plant called Arabadopsis. This gene produces an enzyme responsible for To encourage the storage and storage of certain compounds that can be used as raw materials for the production of plastics. By adding genes to certain crops, plants can produce and store these compounds without affecting plant health.
It is known that petroleum is the basis of almost all plastic industry, but the plants that will be added to this gene will have the ability to manufacture new species with more specific properties in terms of strength or flexibility, not only the production of raw materials that can be used in the manufacture of existing plastics Currently itself and manufactured from petroleum.
The plastics we currently use are produced by chains of oil-derived compounds (called polymers, as the monomers are called monomers). Until now, scientists' production of multiple types of plastics has hampered a limited number of compounds Can be made from monomers found in oil, but the plants will solve that problem; they will enable scientists to produce a huge amount of different compounds that can be used in the production of many types of advanced plastic with characteristics not available in the current plastics.
Plants have amazing chemical plants that produce a large number of chemicals. The plant has a system to produce and store large quantities of compounds, which it uses to protect it from insects, diseases and UV rays in the sunlight, and produces these compounds by combining certain molecules to produce stable and viable forms Solubility of these compounds, stored in small components within the cell called vacuoles. These vacuoles separate the compounds produced from the biochemical processes occurring within the plant.
Using this system, genomics can identify the gene responsible for the production of the compounds required for the production of certain types of plastics. Using biotechnology, this gene can be introduced to the genes of crop plants. These plants produce the desired compound.
Using the gene discovered in this research, the plant can be encouraged to store and store this compound and thus can be extracted and used in the manufacture of new types of plastics. However, the real problem that researchers still face is how to induce plants to produce large quantities of these compounds, so that the process of plastic production becomes economically feasible. Although petroleum from both limited and non-renewable sources is still a less expensive source of plastic monomers.
On the other hand, the research team is trying to induce genetically engineered microbes to produce monomers. They are currently trying to use a bacteria called E. coli to produce monomers for a type of plastic used in carpet yarns as well as other uses, To produce plastic monomers in economic terms.
In the near future, with the start of the production of these advanced types of plastics with its distinctive characteristics, it is expected to open up new areas of plastic applications that have not been imprinted before. We may also find plastic types suitable for manufacturing some things that were not suitable for the current plastics, such as manufacturing hearts and valves. In any event, we are waiting for what genetic or genetic engineering will bring.
Of course not in this literal sense, but it will be a secondary product for the cultivation of crops such as maize and soybeans. A team of Purdue University researchers cloned a gene from a known laboratory plant called Arabadopsis. This gene produces an enzyme responsible for To encourage the storage and storage of certain compounds that can be used as raw materials for the production of plastics. By adding genes to certain crops, plants can produce and store these compounds without affecting plant health.
It is known that petroleum is the basis of almost all plastic industry, but the plants that will be added to this gene will have the ability to manufacture new species with more specific properties in terms of strength or flexibility, not only the production of raw materials that can be used in the manufacture of existing plastics Currently itself and manufactured from petroleum.
The plastics we currently use are produced by chains of oil-derived compounds (called polymers, as the monomers are called monomers). Until now, scientists' production of multiple types of plastics has hampered a limited number of compounds Can be made from monomers found in oil, but the plants will solve that problem; they will enable scientists to produce a huge amount of different compounds that can be used in the production of many types of advanced plastic with characteristics not available in the current plastics.
Plants have amazing chemical plants that produce a large number of chemicals. The plant has a system to produce and store large quantities of compounds, which it uses to protect it from insects, diseases and UV rays in the sunlight, and produces these compounds by combining certain molecules to produce stable and viable forms Solubility of these compounds, stored in small components within the cell called vacuoles. These vacuoles separate the compounds produced from the biochemical processes occurring within the plant.
Using this system, genomics can identify the gene responsible for the production of the compounds required for the production of certain types of plastics. Using biotechnology, this gene can be introduced to the genes of crop plants. These plants produce the desired compound.
Using the gene discovered in this research, the plant can be encouraged to store and store this compound and thus can be extracted and used in the manufacture of new types of plastics. However, the real problem that researchers still face is how to induce plants to produce large quantities of these compounds, so that the process of plastic production becomes economically feasible. Although petroleum from both limited and non-renewable sources is still a less expensive source of plastic monomers.
On the other hand, the research team is trying to induce genetically engineered microbes to produce monomers. They are currently trying to use a bacteria called E. coli to produce monomers for a type of plastic used in carpet yarns as well as other uses, To produce plastic monomers in economic terms.
In the near future, with the start of the production of these advanced types of plastics with its distinctive characteristics, it is expected to open up new areas of plastic applications that have not been imprinted before. We may also find plastic types suitable for manufacturing some things that were not suitable for the current plastics, such as manufacturing hearts and valves. In any event, we are waiting for what genetic or genetic engineering will bring.