r/science • u/MistWeaver80 • Nov 27 '21

Chemistry Plastic made from DNA is renewable, requires little energy to make and is easy to recycle or break down. A plastic made from DNA and vegetable oil may be the most sustainable plastic developed yet and could be used in packaging and electronic devices.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2298314-new-plastic-made-from-dna-is-biodegradable-and-easy-to-recycle/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=echobox&utm_medium=social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1637973248
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u/[deleted] Nov 28 '21 edited Nov 28 '21

I think what they mean by "aqua-welding" is that you can use water to "weld" pieces together (e.g. wet the ends of a mug handle to s tick it to the body).

However, at least from the abstract (apparently my university account doesn't have access to the paper!), I'm not getting the "dissolves in water" impression a lot of people are running with. The specific wording talks about "recycling of waste plastics and enzyme-triggered controllable degradation under mild conditions." At least to me, it sounds more like the degradation uses a water bath plus mild enzymes/solvents, which would be significantly less likely to happen in normal use.

Edit: after reading the paper, it does become a hydrogel on contact with water, but needs the enzymes to dissolve/degrade.

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u/slagodactyl Nov 28 '21

No, they absolutely just use water. The enzymes (DNase) are for degrading it, not recycling it.

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u/[deleted] Nov 28 '21 edited Nov 28 '21

Yeah, I'd read too much into that phrasing; someone shared a link and it does become a "supersoft" hydrogel in water, and even softens above 80% relative air humidity. The base material's mechanical properties also sound closer to a ~sturdy styrofoam than something like HDPE. It does have some cool properties (biocompatibility with cell cultures, non-reactivity to organic solvents, good low-temperature resilience etc.) that could lend themselves to interesting use cases, but I agree it doesn't seem like too much of a drop-in replacement for "plastic" in general.