Microbial Synthesis of L‐DOPA from waste PET

Introduction

Polyethelene terephthalate (PET) is a thermoplastic polymer resin which is used extensively across multiple industries including food and drink, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and textiles. More than 30m tons of PET is produced annually, of which more than 80% is single-use, and this results in approximately 224m tons of post-consumer waste every year.

New biocatalytic methods to recycle PET are being investigated, but there are no sustainable and scalable methods to upcycle PET waste into value-added chemicals using biotechnology.

Challenge

Impact Solutions and the University of Edinburgh wanted to investigate the use of modern synthetic biology methods to design bacteria capable of transforming PET waste into the anti-Parkinson’s drug Levodopa (L-DOPA).

 Solution

Funding from IBioIC’s Feasibility Fund enabled the partners to work together. Impact Solutions produced market research and established a supply of high quality PET material. Stephen Wallace and Joanna Sadler from the University of Edinburgh engineered pathways and provided expert advice to the company.

Outcome

The success of this project has opened up new possibilities in the bioproduction of target compounds from waste PET resources via fermentation. This potentially elegant and viable alternative to multi-step synthesis from diminishing fossil fuels puts Impact Solutions at the cutting edge of a rapidly developing area. Technical engagement with the University of Edinburgh enabled researchers at Impact Solutions to upskill themselves in key areas of industrial biotechnology, ultimately delivering added value to the company and its customer base. Impact Solutions’ Research Lead Dr Galvin Leung also completed a programme of advanced IB training with IBioIC’s FlexBio facility at Heriot Watt University. Engagement and upskilling has expanded Impact Solutions’ potential market and given them the opportunity to gain industry-relevant IP and patents in a rapidly growing area of nanobiotechnology. The company has also submitted two IUK grant applications and received awards in excess of £700k, and created a new permanent position in its R&D programme.

The Wallace Lab published a prestigious new paper with Impact Solutions named as co-author and this has been submitted to a number of high impact journals