Overview
- SIU researchers presented µBites at the American Chemical Society fall meeting on Monday, saying accredited third-party lab analyses and simulated digestion studies are under way while human taste trials wait institutional approval.
- The process breaks PET plastic and agricultural biomass down by oxidative hydrothermal dissolution, feeds the resulting liquid to genetically engineered yeast that make proteins, fats, vitamins and flavor molecules, and 3D-prints the mixture into cookie-shaped servings.
- Current performance is a proof of concept: the team reports roughly 50% carbon conversion, about 10% of carbon unconverted or released, a roughly 33-step process that takes one to two days, and an estimated production cost near $60 per kilogram.
- The project is funded through NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge and is aimed at on-demand food in places such as submarines, disaster-relief sites, polar stations and space habitats, but it is not yet cleared for human consumption or adapted for microgravity.
- External experts warn the method is unlikely to scale into a broad solution to the global plastic-waste problem, so researchers are positioning µBites as a niche technology for resource-limited scenarios while they work to improve yield, reduce waste and cut costs.