Gene-Edited Bacteria Produce PHA: The Next Generation of Degradable Material Black Technology

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Update time : 2025-06-19

Biological Solutions to the Plastic Crisis

In 2024, global plastic pollution has reached a tipping point, and the limitations of traditional biodegradable materials such as PLA are becoming increasingly apparent. Against this backdrop, scientists have set their sights on the revolutionary technology of gene-editing bacteria to synthesize PHA. The latest report from the U.S. Department of Energy shows that this technology is expected to reduce the production cost of biodegradable materials by 60% within three years, revolutionizing the industry landscape.

Part I: What is PHA and what makes it so special?

PHA's Unique Advantages

Characteristics PHA Conventional PLA Petroleum-based plastics

Degradation environment Seawater/soil/composting Industrial composting only Non-degradable

Degradation time 3-6 months 6-12 months 500 years or more

Heat resistance 120°C 60°C 150°C

Production cost 4.2 USD/kg (2024) 2.1 USD/kg 1.3 USD/kg

Data source: 2024 Annual Report of the International Society for Biomaterials

Bottlenecks in Traditional Production Methods

Three major challenges for traditional PHA production processes:

High raw material costs: pure vegetable oils and fats are required as carbon sources

Low yields: natural bacteria synthesize at less than 30% efficiency

Difficulty in extraction: wall-breaking extraction costs 40% of the total cost.

Part II: How gene editing breaks through the production barrier?

Three major directions of transformation in CRISPR-Cas9 technology

Carbon source utilization expansion

Editing cyanobacterial genes to enable direct PHA synthesis from industrial exhaust gases (CO₂)

University of Cambridge team has achieved a 300% increase in conversion of atmospheric CO₂

Optimization of metabolic pathways

Insertion of PHA synthesis gene clusters in marine bacteria

Enabling E. coli PHA production to increase from 30% to 80% of dry weight

Construction of an autofracturing system

Programming Bacteria automatically rupture at the end of culture to release PHA

Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has achieved a 75% reduction in energy consumption for extraction

Breakthroughs in 2024

Danimer Scientific, USA: Completed the first 10,000-ton per year production line of PHA from gene-edited bacteria

Qingdao Institute of Energy, Chinese Academy of Sciences (QIEC): Developed high-temperature-resistant engineered bacterial strains (high efficiency production at 55°C)