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We engineer the GMOs that enable depolymerization for repolymerization.

Project SYNPETIC: People in space want to take PET plastic apart and put the pieces back together: they can use our GMOs to make enzymes.

  • Our enzymes take PET apart with DEPOLYMERIZATION
  • You can put the pieces back together into PET with REPOLYMERIZATION

Goals, Methods, Results

  • Goals: enable a PETosome to DEPOLYMERIZE PET into components that can be REPOLYMERIZED into useful products
  • Method: Engineer e. coli into GMO factories to produce ICCG-DoT, TfCa-DoG, and ScafGVT; use a PETosome to depolymerize PET; use Candida rugosa and Candida antarctica to repolymerize the components
  • Expected Results: recycled crystalline PET without metal catalysts or high temperatures

The results indicate a PET recycling process suitable for use in outer space without metal catalysts or high temperatures.

The Process of Recycling PET Plastic Indefinitely in Space:

  • Use e. coli as microbial factories to make ICCG-DoT, TfCa-DoG, and ScafGVT
  • Use ICCG-DoT, TfCa-DoG, and ScafGVT to make petosomes
  • Use petosomes to depolymerize PET garbage into EG and PTA
  • Use candida to repolymerize EG and PTA into new, usable, crystalline PET