PolyBac: Design of Polyester-producing Bacteria from Waste using Synthetic Biology Methods

Important results from the project

We achieved our goal in Stage 1 to build a consortium with Singaporean partners for engineering a strain of bacteria that would produce biobased elastic polyesters from waste sources. Aside from RISE´s polyhydroxyalkanoates, we encountered other researchers in Singapore that apply synthetic biology techniques to create other kinds of biobased plastic. Together, we have built up a plan for Stage 2 in producing these bioplastics and testing them for their suitability as medical grade materials.

Expected long term effects

From Stage 1´s activities, this will lead to several fruitful projects aside from our main goal of producing polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). These collaborations would strengthen our research and innovation potential in both Sweden and Singapore for sustainable bioplastics via synthetic biology methods. The effect of them would lead to: decreased reliance on fossil fuels, resilience in the supply chain for plastic production in both Sweden and Singapore, moving to a more circular economy.

Approach and implementation

Two researchers travelled to Singapore on behalf of RISE Biological Function Unit. We began with meeting our main research contact in Singapore. We discussed our research goals in order find what possible activities fit our common interests. We also studied the medical device ecosystem in Singapore - the anticipated end users of our bioplastics. We met representatives to see their opinion biobased plastics and what they might need to carry out a change from the fossil fuel-based plastics.