New science behind biodegradable algae-based flip-flops

As the world's most popular shoe, flip-flops account for a troubling percentage of plastic waste that ends up in landfills, on seashores and in our oceans. Scientists at the University of California San Diego have spent years ...

Sustainable adhesives of the future won't stick around

For the health of the planet and our own bodies, plastics of the future ideally should not be made of plastics at all but should still be able to function like plastics. One particularly important job that plastics perform ...

Nanocontainer ships titan-size gene therapies and drugs into cells

Scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine report they have created a tiny, nanosize container that can slip inside cells and deliver protein-based medicines and gene therapies of any size—even hefty ones attached to the gene-editing ...

Sustainable 'plastics' are on the horizon

A new Tel Aviv University study describes a process to make bioplastic polymers that don't require land or fresh water—resources that are scarce in much of the world. The polymer is derived from microorganisms that feed ...

Biodegradable plastic blends offer new options for disposal

Imagine throwing your empty plastic water bottle into a household composting bin that breaks down the plastic and produces biogas to help power your home. Now, researchers have taken an early step toward this futuristic scenario ...

Synthetic biology to help colonize Mars

Shannon Nangle finished her PhD ready to take on a new challenge and set her sights on research to help make Mars colonization possible. But she isn't pursuing research on rocket fuels or space suits. She's using synthetic ...

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