biochemistry - BLOGS - Blacksciencefictionsociety2024-03-28T18:01:59Zhttps://blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/biochemistryRecycling Green Plastics...https://blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blogs/recycling-green-plastics2024-02-06T00:26:44.000Z2024-02-06T00:26:44.000ZReginald L. Goodwinhttps://blacksciencefictionsociety.com/members/ReginaldLGoodwin<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}12374053268,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12374053268,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="12374053268?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p><p></p><p style="text-align:center;">Credit: <em>Cell Reports Physical Science</em> (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2024.101783</p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;">Topics: Biochemistry, Chemistry, Polymer Science, Polymers</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><em>Scientists at King's College London have developed an innovative solution for recycling single-use bioplastics commonly used in disposable items such as coffee cups and food containers.</em></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><em>The novel method of chemical recycling, <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2666386424000031">published</a> in <strong>Cell Reports Physical Science</strong>, uses enzymes typically found in biological laundry detergents to "depolymerize"—or break down—landfill-bound bioplastics. Rapidly converting the items into soluble fragments <a href="https://physicsandnano.com/2024/02/05/recycling-green-plastics/" target="_blank">within just 24 hours</a>, the process achieves full degradation of the bioplastic polylactic acid (PLA). The approach is 84 times faster than the 12-week-long industrial composting process used for recycling <a href="https://phys.org/tags/bioplastic/">bioplastic</a> materials.</em></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><em>This discovery offers a widespread recycling solution for single-use PLA plastics, as the team of chemists at King's found that in a further 24 hours at a temperature of 90°C, the bioplastics break down into their <a href="https://phys.org/tags/chemical+building+blocks/">chemical building blocks</a>. Once converted into monomers—single molecules—the materials can be turned into equally high-quality plastic for multiple reuse.</em></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong><em>The problem with 'green' plastics</em></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><em>Current rates of plastic production outstrip our ability to dispose of it sustainably. According to Environmental Action, it is estimated that in 2023 alone, more than 68 million tons of plastic globally ended up in natural environments due to the imbalance between the huge volumes of plastics produced and our current capacity to manage and recycle plastic at the end of its life. A recent OECD report predicted that the amount of plastic waste produced worldwide will almost triple by 2060, with around half ending up in landfills and less than a fifth recycled.</em></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><a href="https://phys-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/phys.org/news/2024-01-enzyme-laundry-detergent-recycle-plastics.amp">An enzyme used in laundry detergent can recycle single-use plastics within 24 hours</a>, <a href="http://www.kcl.ac.uk/" target="_blank">King's College London</a>.</span></p><p></p></div>Dr. Gladys W. Royal...https://blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blogs/dr-gladys-w-royal2020-02-13T11:30:09.000Z2020-02-13T11:30:09.000ZReginald L. Goodwinhttps://blacksciencefictionsociety.com/members/ReginaldLGoodwin<div><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;text-align:center;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align:center;"><a style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-je_8fcNPjAQ/XkQW2ybGc-I/AAAAAAAAOrE/2S1kOCw5Z_wLliyHx3plwey_X64JNWrrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/THE_A%2526T_COLLEGE_REGISTER_1961_Gladys_Royal%252C_W._E._Reed%252C_R._L._Satoera%252C_George_Royal.jpg"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-je_8fcNPjAQ/XkQW2ybGc-I/AAAAAAAAOrE/2S1kOCw5Z_wLliyHx3plwey_X64JNWrrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/THE_A%2526T_COLLEGE_REGISTER_1961_Gladys_Royal%252C_W._E._Reed%252C_R._L._Satoera%252C_George_Royal.jpg" width="400" height="290" border="0" alt="THE_A%2526T_COLLEGE_REGISTER_1961_Gladys_Royal%252C_W._E._Reed%252C_R._L._Satoera%252C_George_Royal.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align:center;">Dr. Gladys Royal (left), Dr. W. E. Reed (left center), R. L. Satoera (right center) and Dr. George Royal (right), with x-ray equipment, North Carolina A&T College, 1961<p>By THE AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL, COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N. C. - THE A&T COLLEGE REGISTER, VOLUME XXXII, No. 8 , FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 1961, Public Domain, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42353373">https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42353373</a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">Topics: African Americans, Diversity in Science, Biochemistry, Nanotechnology, Women in Science</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">See: <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12809482" target="_blank">Biochemistry and structural DNA nanotechnology: an evolving symbiotic relationship</a>.</span></p><div style="text-align:justify;"><br /><em><span style="font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">Gladys W. Royal (August 29, 1926 – November 9, 2002) is one of a small number of early African-American biochemists. Part of one of the few African-American husband-and-wife teams in science, Gladys worked with George C. Royal on research supported by the United States Atomic Energy Commission. She later worked for many years as principal biochemist at the Cooperative State Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Royal was also active in the civil rights movement in Greensboro, North Carolina.</span></em></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br /><em><span style="font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">Royal was born <a href="https://physics4thecool.blogspot.com/2020/02/dr-gladys-w-royal.html" target="_blank">Gladys Geraldine Williams</a> on August 29, 1926, in Dallas, Texas. She graduated from Dillard University with a B.Sc. <strong><u>at the age of 18</u></strong> in 1944. She married George C. Royal in 1947.</span></em></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br /><em><span style="font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">Royal accompanied her husband to Tuskegee, Alabama, where he taught microbiology in 1947-1948, to Ohio State University and Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, where he was a research assistant from 1948 to 1952, and to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro where he became an assistant professor of Bacteriology in 1952. At Tuskegee and Ohio State she took classes; by 1953, she was sufficiently qualified to become a professor of chemistry at <a href="https://www.ncat.edu/" target="_blank">North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College</a> in Greensboro.</span></em></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br /><em><span style="font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">In 1954, Royal received her M.Sc. in organic chemistry from Tuskegee. She had also taken classes at the University of Wisconsin and at Ohio State University, from which she received her Ph.D. in 1954. Her thesis, <u>The Influence of Rations Containing Sodium Acetate and Sodium Propionate on the Composition of Tissues From Feeder Lambs</u>, involved experimental work in flavor chemistry, testing the effects of various feed regimens on the taste of meat.</span></em></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br /><em><span style="font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Royals collaborated on important research including that funded by the United States Atomic Energy Commission involving bone marrow transplants to treat radiation overdoses. Their work had direct relevance to cancer treatment, which used high doses of radiation and could cause tissue damage. It also reflected Cold war fears of possible nuclear attack.</span></em></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br /><em><span style="font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">African-American husband-and-wife teams in science were extremely rare in the early and mid-20th century due to the social, educational and economic climate regarding African Americans in the United States.</span></em></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br /><em><span style="font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">The Royals had six children: George Calvin Royal III, Geraldine Gynnette Royal, Guericke Christopher Royal, jazz musician Gregory Charles Royal, Michelle Renee McNear, and Eric Marcus Royal.</span></em></div><p> </p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_W._Royal" target="_blank">Wikipedia/Gladys_W._Royal</a></span></p></div>