Building A Better Future Through E. Coli

All hail genetic engineering! Scientists at Genomatica, Inc., located in San Diego, have announced that they have successfuly manipulated the bacteria Escherichia coli to produce butanediol (BDO), a main component of plastic; or a recreational drug if Wikipedia is to be believed.

“We have engineered the organism such that it has to secrete that product in order for it to grow,” says bioengineer Christophe Schilling, president and co-founder of the company, launched in 2000 to develop such chemical-producing microbes. “The interests of the organism are aligned with our interests: It grows faster when it produces more.”

The company hopes to lower the rising price of BDO, which has jumped $.22 recently to $1.22 a pound with the rising cost of oil, although they are still unsure as to just how much E. coli produced BDO would cost. Regardless, I look forward to a future where the toys our children play with and the illicit substances we use to forget our problems are made from bacterial excrement.

Turning Bacteria into Plastic Factories [Scientific American] : Scribal Terror