Snoach

Thanks for the info. Very helpful.

Thanks for the reply,CharonY. Is the chemistry of plastic so different to biochem that it's impossible? I assume there must be some biological structures that are vaguely analogous to plastic (chitin?), so substituting may be possible in the future? For the record, I'm writing a SF story and I'm trying to get an idea of bacterial technology that's at least theoretically possible, so that scientifically-aware people won't tear the pages up in disgust.

Hi all. This is my first post here, so: 1. I've read the sticky and think this belongs here and not in Speculation. 2. I am a scientist of no sort, so my question may be face-palmingly stupid. That said, what are the limits of bacterial synthesis? I understand that bacteria have been bred that synthesise biofuels and pharmaceuticals, but if the methods available were flawless, could they be engineered to create things like foods, explosives and varieties of plastic? If so, what would they need to feed on? I doubt they can make everything from agar and glucose.