12-Jan-2021 | Market Research Store
A team of engineers from Imperial College London and MIT have found a new method to developrobust, functional materials with the help of a mixture of bacteria and yeast that just like kombucha mother which is used to ferment tea.The engineers have named this mixture as symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). Furthermore, the researchers were able to make cellulose embedded with enzymes that can perform a number of tasks such as tracing environmental pollutants. It was observed that the yeast could be integrated into the material to develop living materials which can purify water or make smart packaging materials to find damages.
It is believed that in the future a different range of materials can be developed at home or local manufacturing facilities using just biology. Earlier, the team used E.coli to form biofilms integrated with gold nanowires. But, the tiny size and thinness made its production difficult. Thus, in this new study the researchers are trying to use microbes to create substantial materials on a large scale. The researchers created a microbe population similar to a kombucha mother as it is the bacterial species or yeast types that help produce the ethanol, cellulose, and acetic acid. The genetic modification of wild yeast strains is difficult and thus, the laboratory strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was developed to combine with Komagataeibacter rhaeticus (bacteria).
As the yeast used was a laboratory strain, the researchers could engineer it to produce enzymes that glow in the dark or even sense pollutants in the dark. The yeast could also be engineeredto break down pollutants after sensing them. At the same time, the bacteria produce tough cellulose and also the yeasts are controlled to produce enzymes that could be embedded into the cellulose structure. Within a few days, a bathtub sized material could be grown that to in large quantities. Additionally, the material generated is more compared to the E.coli system. For testing the potential of the Syn-SCOBY culture the researchers’ added yeast that sense estradiol, which is pollutant in air. Similarly, they used yeast to produce luciferase which a glowing protein that light up when exposed to blue light. Just sugar, tea, and Syn-SCOBY mother is pretty much everything needed at home for growing water filters or other useful materials.
Market Research Store has published a report on global kombucha market. The report incorporates all the factors including financial status, regional distribution, market breakdown structure, historical and future trends, prospects, restraints, and so on that have an impact on the market growth rate during the forecast period.