The Genomic Sciences Center of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), identified that the bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii, present in soils and plant roots, has a system that allows it to multiply by 10 its capacity to produce two biopolymers, of extraordinary purity and zero environmental impact.

Elva Yadira Quiroz Rocha, resident researcher, commented that this system makes it possible for the bacteria to choose the carbon sources that it will later convert into two types of polymers – alginate and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) -, both of biotechnological interest due to their great potential for application in various fields, as well as their ability to be degraded by the same bacteria that produce them.

According to Quiroz Rocha, the greatest benefit of getting some bacteria to produce polymers in sufficient quantities lies in the possibility that, in the long term, plastics derived from petroleum will be replaced, since the bacteria are responsible for degrading it when used as a carbon source , in a process that would take between three and six months.

Another of the great benefits has to do with their purity, since it gives them the necessary potential for medical applications, since polymers of this type can be used for the generation of prostheses, since they do not generate a toxic response in the host organism. .