Can E. coli turn plastic waste into vanilla ice cream?
Photo : Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance ( Getty Images )  Its safe to say were in the midst of a plastic crisis, with approximately 50 million tons of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste produced annually thanks largely to food and drink packaging, Science Daily reports. (Lets also not forget the whole Great Pacific Garbage Patch thing.) Advertisement  In a new study cited in Science Daily, researchers have discovered that E. coli bacteria can be deployed (ominous!) as a sustainable way to convert post-consumer plastic into vanillin. Vanillin is the main component of extracted vanilla beans, and its responsible for vanillas signature taste and smell. This could be especially useful since theres been a worldwide vanilla shortage for the past few years. Heres how it works: scientists used lab-engineered E. coli to transform terephthalic acid (a molecule derived from PET) into vanillin via a series of chemical reactions. Science Daily reports that the scientists successfully converted a plastic bottle into vanillin by adding the E. coli to the degraded bottle waste, claiming that the vanillin would be fit for human consumption after further experimental tests.  If the transformation sounds revolutionary, thats because it is. Time to increase our personal chocolate chip cookie quotas, methinks. Its good for the Earth!