KAIST Develops Technology to Remove Plastic's Reputation as a 'Major Cause of Environmental Pollution'

Can plastic shed its label as the 'main culprit of environmental pollution'? Domestic researchers have provided an answer to this question by developing bio-based plastics using microorganisms.

Conventional plastics, widely used until now, have been produced solely from fossil fuels, making it difficult to avoid environmental pollution issues. However, the newly developed plastic utilizes systems metabolic engineering to enable microorganisms to produce 'polyester amide,' a material with properties similar to nylon, which is expected to offer greater freedom from environmental pollution.

Polyester amide is known as a next-generation material that combines the advantages of PET (polyester), a commonly used plastic material, and nylon (polyamide).

(From the top left) Professor Lee Sang-yeop of the Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Dr. Chae Dong-eon, Dr. Choi So-young, and PhD candidate Ahn Da-hee. Provided by KAIST

On the 20th, KAIST announced that a research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering succeeded in producing a new type of eco-friendly bio-plastic, polyester amide, by developing microbial strains using systems metabolic engineering.

The research team designed a novel microbial metabolic pathway not found in nature and developed platform microbial strains capable of producing nine different types of polyester amides.

The team emphasized that this enables the production of polyester amide from glucose, the main raw material of biomass such as waste wood and weeds. Above all, the strain demonstrated high production efficiency (54.57 g/L) in fed-batch fermentation processes, suggesting potential for future industrialization.

The research team, in collaboration with researchers Haemin Jeong and Jihoon Shin from the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, analyzed the physical properties of the bio-based plastic and confirmed that it has properties similar to conventional high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

This development raises expectations that bio-based plastics can not only shed the stigma of 'plastic = main culprit of environmental pollution' but also replace conventional plastics with superior strength and durability.

The strains and strategies developed in this study are expected to be useful for constructing metabolic pathways to produce not only multiple polyester amides but also other groups of polymers, the research team predicted.

Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of KAIST stated, “This research is significant in that it presents the possibility of producing plastics (polyester amide) through a renewable bio-based chemical industry without relying on the petrochemical industry base,” adding, “The research team plans to continue studies to increase the production volume and productivity of bio-based plastics.”

Meanwhile, this research was conducted with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT under the project ‘Development of Next-Generation Biorefinery Core Technologies for Leading the Bio-Chemical Industry,’ part of the eco-friendly chemical technology development program to replace petroleum.

The research results were published online on the 17th in the international journal Nature Chemical Biology.

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