The impact of synthetic plastics on our planet is alarming, to say the least. It is everywhere, from the depths of our oceans to the food we eat, and even enters our bodies. But Avinash Manjula-Basavanna, a veteran scientist at Northeastern University, sees MECHS as a solution to the problem.
“The impact of man-made materials on the living world leads to climate change, pollution, etc.,” he says. “One of the ways to solve this problem is to make materials environmentally friendly, to make smart and smart materials.”
The birth of a new bioplastic
Working with Neil S. Joshi, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Northeastern, Manjula-Basavanna created a new bioplastic called MECHS. This refers to mechanically engineered living materials that are compostable, renewable and scalable.
The team recently showcased their discovery in a magazine Nature Communication. Here they formulated their unique work with engineered living materials, living cells producing functional materials.
The wonders of bioplastics
What makes MECHS different? Manjula-Basavanna and Joshi gave us two main reasons.
First, MECHS reveals the beauty of nature-inspired solutions with their ability to regenerate, self-regulate, and respond to external stimuli such as light.
The second reason is even more important in modern conditions. Unlike harmful plastic that is choking our planet and our bodies, MECHS biodegrades in water and even in the compost bin.
“Today, we use many common non-biodegradable plastic materials for purposes that we don’t need them for at all,” says Joshi. “If we replace it with our plastic, you can flush it down the toilet and it will biodegrade.”
Engineering living materials
Until now, it has not been possible to scale up such engineered living materials for large-scale production. Enter MECHS. It basically consists of engineered E. coli bacteria intertwined with a fibrous matrix made into paper or film.
The fibrous structure gives MECHS some desirable properties. For example, bioplastics can stretch like plastic film and can be genetically engineered to have variable stiffness. And most excitingly, it has the ability to heal itself.
But real cherries? MECHS is completely soluble either in large amounts of water or in the compost bin. It degrades much faster, much faster than other biodegradable plastics available. It can also be mass produced, just like paper.
Potential applications
Scientific wonders see MECHS as the “primary packaging” solution. This includes the plastic cover that protects your new iPhone or your devices’ detergent containers. Imagine MECHS wrapped around a potted plant slowly breaking down and releasing proteins to fertilize the plant!
Manjula-Basavanna sees huge potential for MECHS in plastic packaging, which covers almost a third of the plastic market, to solve the global plastic pollution problem. He notes that the lifespan of such packaging can last from a few days to two years, but the petrochemical plastic used can take hundreds of years to biodegrade.
“For such a short packaging life, petrochemical plastics, which can take hundreds of years to biodegrade, are unnecessary in most cases, so a sustainable alternative like MECHS, with its biodegradability, washability and mechanical tunability, can make the difference.” Manjula-Basavanna.
Challenges in implementing MECHS
Although MECHS offers a revolutionary solution to the global plastic crisis, implementing this technology at scale is not without challenges. A major concern is the genomic stability of the engineered E. coli bacteria used in MECHS.
Scientists must ensure that bacteria remain safe and stable under various environmental conditions to avoid undesirable consequences. Additionally, the transition of traditional plastic-dependent industries to MECHS requires overcoming significant economic and logistical hurdles.
Manufacturing facilities around the world may need to implement new technologies and infrastructure to adapt to this new material, potentially leading to significant short-term costs. Additionally, public perception and regulatory hurdles must be overcome to gain trust and acceptance of its widespread use.
The future of sustainable materials
Looking to the future, MECHS-related innovations mark the beginning of an era of sustainable and adaptable materials that could transform the industry. As research into living materials advances, new possibilities emerge, such as enabling the development of dynamic, adaptable materials for technologies not yet imagined.
Building on their success with MECHS, Manjula-Basavanna and Joshi envision expanding the palette of biodegradable materials, each designed for specific applications from environmental protection to healthcare.
Their work emphasizes collaboration between disciplines (biology, chemistry, and engineering) to develop sustainable solutions. Ultimately, MECHS is a testament to how nature-inspired innovation can lead to breakthroughs that have the power to transform our relationship with the materials we use and the environment we live in. The study was published in the journal Nature Communication.
Source: Port Altele
