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Scientists turn plastic waste into Parkinson’s drug levodopa using engineered bacteria

  • Yesterday, researchers at the University of Edinburgh engineered Escherichia coli BL21 to convert PET into levodopa , as published in Nature Sustainability on March 17, 2026.
  • Faced with abundant PET and recycling limits, the University of Edinburgh research team pursued bio-upcycling to address L-DOPA production relying on fossil fuels that generate significant waste.
  • The team reported an optimized two-step workflow achieving 5.0 g L-1 L-DOPA and 84% conversion using foil-derived TPA, expressing the TpaK transporter and splitting the pathway across two cooperating microbial strains.
  • The researchers emphasise the work remains a proof-of-concept, with challenges like product recovery and contaminant removal, at the Carbon-Loop Sustainable Biomanufacturing Hub funded by 14 million in EPSRC grants.
  • With more than 1.1 million people in the United States living with Parkinson's, bio-upcycling could offer new treatment avenues, addressing environmental and health challenges.
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The Telegraph broke the news in London, United Kingdom on Monday, March 16, 2026.
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