The future environmental footprint of the tire industry could be substantially shrunk thanks to a new ecofriendly way found by four RIKEN researchers that harnesses bacteria to make a chemical used in synthetic rubber.
Each year, factories around the world churn out more than 12 million metric tons of the organic chemical 1,3-butadiene, which is used in tires, adhesives, sealants and other plastic and rubber products. They produce it by an energy-intensive process that relies on petroleum, which contributes to climate change.
Scientists have tried for many years to create 1,3-butadiene from more environmentally friendly starting materials by using specially designed microbes. But no one had...