Transforming Waste into Protein-Rich Cookies

Plastic bottles and crop waste can now be transformed into

protein-rich cookies. Researchers at Southern Illinois

University have engineered microbes that can break down waste soda

bottles and corn stalk waste into a product called Microbytes.

This new process could help with the looming food crisis, plastic

pollution, and even sustain crews on deep space

missions.

While safety testing has cleared Microbytes for consumption,

researchers are still waiting on institutional approval to conduct taste

tests.

Flavor is added via baker's yeast engineered to generate vanilla

flavoring directly from plant biomass.

Smell testing already conducted reveals participants would be willing to eat the

cookie in settings where resources were very limited.

Research was conducted as part of a NASA-led project meant to create food

for deep space exploration. The step-by-step process puts

water and oxygen under extreme heat and pressure to break plastic into

pieces that can be processed by microbes.

Programmed yeast then put together these pieces into proteins,

fats, and acids, and a 3D printer creates the cookie in its

final

form.

By upcycling carbon waste directly into

nutrient-dense 3D-printed foods like Microbytes,

researchers are offering a sustainable closed loop alternative

to traditional farming. A researcher from the team revealed their

next goal is to add starch, fiber, and sweetener to the cookies and

eventually make it available to the public within a few years.

More than two billion people across the world experience food insecurity,

according

to the UN. Global food demand is also expected to surge and put

nearly a third of the world's population at risk for hunger by

2050. For more on this story, check out the article at the link in the

description.