![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Professor-Stephen-Wallace-at-work-credit-Edinburgh-Innovations-e1773823040277-1024x581.jpg\")
Professor Stephen Wallace at work \u2013 credit, Edinburgh Innovations<\/p>\n Professor Stephen Wallace at work \u2013 credit, Edinburgh Innovations<\/p>\n
A drug to treat Parkinson\u2019s disease can be made from waste plastic bottles using a pioneering method, a new study shows.<\/p>\n
The approach harnesses the power of bacteria to transform post-consumer plastic into L-DOPA, a frontline medication for the neurological disorder.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the first time a biological process has achieved this, and the scientists behind the breakthrough said it would be a more sustainable method of making pharmaceuticals, which normally rely on the use of finite fossil fuels.<\/p>\n
The story comes from the University of Edinburgh, where the team led by Dr. Stephen Wallace engineered E. coli bacteria to turn a type of plastic used widely in food and drink packaging\u2014polyethylene terephthalate, or PET\u2014into L-DOPA.<\/p>\n
Some 50 million metric tons of PET are produced annually, and the process involves first breaking the plastic down into chemical building blocks of terephthalic acid. Molecules of terephthalic acid are then transformed<\/a> into L-DOPA by the engineered bacteria through a series of biological reactions.<\/p>\n \u201cThis feels like just the beginning,\u201d said<\/a> Wallace, who works as a professor at the University\u2019s School of Biological Sciences.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can create medicines for neurological disease from a waste plastic bottle, it\u2019s exciting to imagine what else this technology could achieve. Plastic waste is often seen as an environmental problem, but it also represents a vast, untapped source of carbon.\u201d<\/p>\n There is an urgent need for new methods to recycle PET<\/a>, the team says. Existing recycling processes are not completely efficient and still contribute to plastic pollution worldwide.<\/p>\n L-DOPA is the precursor to the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine, and in addition to Parkinson\u2019s, is sold over the counter as a supplement and for treatment of Restless Leg Syndrome.<\/p>\n \u201cBy engineering biology to transform plastic into an essential medicine, we show how waste materials can be reimagined as valuable resources that support human health,\u201d said Wallace.<\/p>\n