Bacteria discovered that transforms plastic bottles into paracetamol

Scientists know of various microbes capable of breaking down plastic , which could be a solution to one of the major environmental problems of recent decades, but researchers at the University of Edinburgh have discovered that Escherichia coli , a common and generally harmless bacterium, does something even more surprising: it converts plastic waste from water bottles or food packaging into paracetamol. For the authors of the study, published this Monday in the journal 'Nature Chemistry' , the discovery could revolutionize the production of painkillers.

Researchers claim the method generates virtually no carbon emissions and is more sustainable than current drug manufacturing. At the same time, it reuses a plastic, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) , found in many everyday products and often ends up in landfills or polluting oceans.

Paracetamol is traditionally made from dwindling reserves of fossil fuels, such as crude oil. Thousands of tons of fossil fuels are required to produce this and other medicines and chemicals, which contribute significantly to climate change, according to experts.

PET, for its part, being both strong and lightweight, generates more than 350 million tons of waste annually, causing serious environmental damage worldwide. Its recycling is possible, but researchers point out that existing processes create products that continue to contribute to global plastic pollution.

Stephen Wallace and his colleagues discovered that a type of chemical reaction called the Lossen rearrangement can occur in living cells, catalyzed by the phosphate inside E. coli . This chemical reaction produces a type of nitrogen-containing organic compound essential for cellular metabolism.

What the scientists did was modify E. coli in the laboratory to transform a PET-derived molecule known as terephthalic acid into the active ingredient in paracetamol. The researchers, partly funded by the biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, used a fermentation process, similar to that used in brewing beer, to accelerate the conversion of industrial PET waste into paracetamol in less than 24 hours.

The new technique was carried out at room temperature and generated virtually no carbon emissions, demonstrating, according to the group, that paracetamol can be produced sustainably. However, they admit that further development is needed before it can be produced commercially. About 90% of the product produced by reacting terephthalic acid with the genetically modified bacteria was paracetamol.

Experts say this new approach demonstrates how traditional chemistry can be integrated with engineering biology to create living microbial factories capable of producing sustainable chemicals that biology alone cannot achieve, while addressing waste and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels.

"This work demonstrates that PET plastic is not just waste or a material destined to become more plastic, but can be transformed by microorganisms into valuable new products, including those with the potential to treat diseases," says Stephen Wallace, lead author of the study.

The findings may represent the first case of E. coli producing paracetamol from waste. Future research will explore how other types of bacteria or plastics can generate useful products.