Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Bioremediation

Bioremediation

Bioremediation is the use of prokaryotes, fungi, or plants to remove pollutants from the environment. This process has been used to remove harmful toxins in groundwater as a byproduct of agricultural run-off and also to clean up oil spills.

Types of Step-Growth Polymers: Polyesters

Types of Step-Growth Polymers: Polyesters

The introduction of polyesters has brought major development to the textile industry. The wrinkle-free behavior of polyester blends has eliminated the need for starching and ironing clothes.
Polyesters are commonly prepared from terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol; the crude product is known as poly(ethylene terephthalate) or PET. However, polyesters are synthesized industrially by transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol at 150 °C. The two reactants and the...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Tissue-adhesive hydrogel optical fiber for peripheral optogenetic neuromodulation.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Reversible Thermoactuation Unlocks Minimally Invasive Implantation and Retrieval of Soft Bioelectronics.

Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)·2026

Same author

A framework for building a synthetic cell from the SynCell Asia Initiative.

Nature biotechnology·2026

Same author

Dynamic Polymers for Transient Electronics.

Macromolecular rapid communications·2026

Same author

Surface-Initiated PET-RAFT Enables In Situ Glycopolymer Microarrays for Live-Cell Glycan Profiling and Programmable Biointerfaces.

Biomacromolecules·2026

Same author

Fatigue Resistant Hydrogels Engineered With Twisting Hierarchical Structures.

Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)·2026

Same journal

Allosteric disordering of eIF2B regulates the integrated stress response.

Nature chemical biology·2026

Same journal

A tail of two ligases.

Nature chemical biology·2026

Same journal

Non-canonical cytochrome P450 enzymes expand the diversity of bacterial hemoproteins.

Nature chemical biology·2026

Same journal

Image-guided activation of drugs with electromagnetic radiation.

Nature chemical biology·2026

Same journal

Detecting protein fluctuations at scale.

Nature chemical biology·2026

Same journal

Revealing the Wnt signalosome.

Nature chemical biology·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 15, 2025

Isolation of Native Soil Microorganisms with Potential for Breaking Down Biodegradable Plastic Mulch Films Used in Agriculture

Isolation of Native Soil Microorganisms with Potential for Breaking Down Biodegradable Plastic Mulch Films Used in Agriculture

Published on: May 10, 2013

Degradable living plastics programmed by engineered spores.

Chenwang Tang^1,2, Lin Wang¹, Jing Sun^2,3

¹Key Laboratory of Quantitative Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.

Nature Chemical Biology

|August 21, 2024

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers created "living plastics" by embedding engineered Bacillus subtilis spores. These spores release enzymes to degrade plastic when activated, offering a sustainable solution for plastic waste management.

More Related Videos

Isolation and Screening from Soil Biodiversity for Fungi Involved in the Degradation of Recalcitrant Materials

Isolation and Screening from Soil Biodiversity for Fungi Involved in the Degradation of Recalcitrant Materials

Published on: May 16, 2022

Forming Micro-and Nano-Plastics from Agricultural Plastic Films for Employment in Fundamental Research Studies

Forming Micro-and Nano-Plastics from Agricultural Plastic Films for Employment in Fundamental Research Studies

Published on: July 27, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 15, 2025

Isolation of Native Soil Microorganisms with Potential for Breaking Down Biodegradable Plastic Mulch Films Used in Agriculture

Isolation of Native Soil Microorganisms with Potential for Breaking Down Biodegradable Plastic Mulch Films Used in Agriculture

Published on: May 10, 2013

Isolation and Screening from Soil Biodiversity for Fungi Involved in the Degradation of Recalcitrant Materials

Isolation and Screening from Soil Biodiversity for Fungi Involved in the Degradation of Recalcitrant Materials

Published on: May 16, 2022

Forming Micro-and Nano-Plastics from Agricultural Plastic Films for Employment in Fundamental Research Studies

Forming Micro-and Nano-Plastics from Agricultural Plastic Films for Employment in Fundamental Research Studies

Published on: July 27, 2022

Area of Science:

Synthetic biology
Polymer engineering
Biomaterials science

Background:

Plastic waste presents a significant ecological challenge due to its persistence.
Enzymatic degradation of plastics is hindered by enzyme instability during material processing.
Novel approaches are needed to create biodegradable plastics.

Purpose of the Study:

To engineer degradable living plastics by integrating enzyme-producing microbial spores into polymer matrices.
To develop a sustainable method for plastic disposal using biologically active materials.

Main Methods:

Engineered Bacillus subtilis spores with a gene circuit for expressing Burkholderia cepacia lipase (BC-lipase).
Incorporated stress-resilient spores into poly(caprolactone) to create living plastic materials.
Triggered spore germination and enzyme release via surface erosion.

Main Results:

Spore incorporation did not negatively impact the physical properties of the poly(caprolactone) materials.
Germinated spores released BC-lipase, leading to near-complete depolymerization of the plastic.
Demonstrated a functional degradable plastic material controlled by biological activation.

Conclusions:

Developed a novel method for fabricating sustainable, degradable living plastics.
Showcased the potential of harnessing engineered microbial spores for on-demand plastic biodegradation.
Opened avenues for developing advanced materials for environmental sustainability.