GoKawiilSIU Carbondale scientists 3D-print vanilla cookies from recycled PET plastic and crop waste
A team led by associate professor Lahiru Jayakody at Southern Illinois University Carbondale has engineered yeast strains that break down PET plastic bottles combined with agricultural waste like corn stalks into a protein-rich, vanilla-flavored snack called µBites. The project grew out of NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge, and though it did not win the competition, NASA encouraged the team to keep refining the concept, leading to improved taste, aroma and color unveiled recently at the American Chemical Society Expo in Chicago.