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Tuesday 13 February 2018

New sustainable production method may advance plastics, pharmaceuticals





A team of chemical engineers at The University of Texas at Austin has developed a new, cost-effective method for synthetically producing a bio-renewable platform chemical called triacetic acid lactone (TAL). This chemical can be used to produce innovative new drugs and sustainable plastics at an industrial scale.
The study is described in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Led by Hal Alper, professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering, the team’s new method involves engineering the yeast Ylipolytica to increase production of TAL, a polyketide, to levels that far exceed current bioproduction methods.
This was accomplished by rewiring metabolism in the yeast through synthetic biology and genetic engineering. Ultimately, the research team increased production capacity tenfold, enabling polyketides to be mass-produced for incorporation into a variety of new applications in industry.
Polyketides are an important class of naturally derived molecules that can be used to make many useful products such as nutritional supplements, speciality polymers, pigments and pharmaceuticals. Currently, there are more than 20 drugs derived from polyketides on the market, including immunosuppressants, statins and antimicrobials.
Up to this point, synthetic production of polyketides has been constrained by technical challenges, limiting practical applications for consumer- and industry-based needs. In particular, most technologies have limited product yields resulting in difficult chemical synthesis and poor economics. The UT Austin team’s breakthrough could change that.
Using their new method, the researchers were able to purify TAL directly from a bioreactor to make a new plastic material that can be formed into a film and is seen to exhibit an orange hue and relative transparency.
“We hope to open up new product and industrial opportunities in the chemical and pharmaceutical spaces,” Alper said. “Our engineering efforts in TAL showcase that we can rewire metabolism to create renewable solutions to traditional chemical manufacturing.”

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