Bacteria Transforms Waste Plastic into Painkillers

Microbial Magic: Bacteria Transforms Waste Plastic into Painkillers

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have bioengineered a common bacterium, E. coli, to convert PET plastic — like the kind in water and soda bottles — into acetaminophen (aka paracetamol), the active ingredient in Tylenol and Panadol.

Instead of fossil fuels, plastic becomes the raw material for producing painkillers, all powered by microscopic chemical factories.

What makes this remarkable is the discovery of a “biotic” Lossen rearrangement — a chemical transformation previously only seen in the lab, not in living systems.

Phosphate in the bacterial cells catalyzes this reaction, turning PET-derived intermediates into PABA (para‑aminobenzoic acid), the precursor to acetaminophen. With added genes from soil bacteria and mushrooms, the engineered E. coli completes the conversion in under 24 hours — achieving up to 92% yield — at room temperature and near-zero carbon emissions.

Why it matters:

  • Twin environmental wins
    • This process could help reduce plastic pollution while decarbonizing pharmaceutical production. Plastic waste becomes a resource rather than a liability.
  • Chemical innovation
    • Introducing a Lossen rearrangement into living cells expands the toolkit for “living chemistry”—creating pathways that merge biology and synthetic chemistry in unprecedented ways.
  • Industrial potential
    • Though still at lab scale, the method’s efficiency and eco‑friendliness could inspire scalable systems for converting waste into medicines.

Dr. Stephen Wallace, who led the project, puts it simply:

“People don’t realise that paracetamol comes from oil currently … What this technology shows is that by merging chemistry and biology in this way for the first time, we can make paracetamol more sustainably and clean up plastic waste from the environment at the same time.”

This discovery isn’t just a quirky science experiment — it highlights how microbes can be reprogrammed to tackle two of today’s biggest challenges: plastic pollution and emissions from drug manufacturing.

It’s a powerful symbol of how small-scale innovations can hold huge ripple effects. Curious how bacteria are pulling off this biochemical magic?

Tap into the full article and dive deeper into the Nature Chemistry paper they cite.

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