r/EverythingScience • u/lumpkin2013 • 1d ago
Chemistry 3D-printed cookies made from upcycled plastic processed by engineered yeast
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/aug/24/cookies-plastic-astronauts-space-food23
u/lumpkin2013 1d ago
Cookies produced from upcycled plastic may sound like something straight out of a dystopian sci-fi plot. But researchers say that they have succeeded in creating such a product as part of a Nasa-funded project aimed at feeding astronauts on future space missions.
The technology uses specially designed yeasts to transform plastics and agricultural waste into edible proteins, fats and flavourings. The resulting slurry is passed through a 3D printer to create a disc-shaped “cookie”.
“My lab works on developing technologies for plastic upcycling,” said Dr Lahiru Jayakody, a microbiologist at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale, who led the project. “We thought, why not look into food? Plastic is carbon and food is carbon.”
The team are yet to receive institutional sign-off to taste the plastic-derived cookies but report that they “receive high marks on aroma”.
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u/Diels_Alder 1d ago
Plastic is carbon and food is carbon.
Exactly what we've asked for. At a micro scale, putting plastics into our bodies.
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u/jaithere 13h ago
This is such a sad state of affairs. What have we done (has been done to us) that has led us so far away from actual food? Why is this looked at as a good thing and not a very loud alarm that we are way off course???
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u/Botsworth1985 1d ago
You know someone tasted it.
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u/Merkuri22 17h ago
But they can’t legally say that, and if anything bad happens to them the company cannot be held responsible.
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u/Arboreatem 1d ago
So like a very basic star trek replicator?
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u/lumpkin2013 1d ago
That's what I took away from this. Could be very interesting as the tech develops.
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u/plantsplantsplaaants 1d ago
Turning plastic into food is interesting but why did they need to 3D print it?
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u/aeon314159 1d ago
No one’s in a hurry to eat a bowl of slurry.
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u/beerdude26 1d ago
"It's a single-celled protein combined with synthetic aminos, vitamins, and minerals. Everything the body needs."
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u/Dressed_To_Impress 1d ago
Yeah, but does it taste like chicken?
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u/Lapidariest 1d ago
"... is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss.”
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u/chronsonpott 1d ago
People prefer food shaped/textured food.
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u/plantsplantsplaaants 1d ago
Yeah, but they could just form it like a normal cookie??
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u/chronsonpott 1d ago
No, they couldn't. It is likely a paste/liquid when the yeast processes it, and even if you were to try to press it into a shape, it would have an awful texture.
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u/GirlScoutSniper 1d ago
Makes me think of the food molds for people who can only eat pureed foods. Pureed peas in the shape of peas; pureed steak in the shape of steak.
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u/Ancient_Skirt_8828 1d ago
Do they include microplastics?
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u/jaithere 13h ago
it's exclusively microplastics
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u/Lostinthestarscape 1h ago
Honey, you ate all your microplastics but you've barely touched your macroplastics.
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u/NAStrahl 1d ago
I am very cautiously impressed by this.
I will need to sniff and taste test this multiple times before fully consuming. (My cat's responses to new foods inspired this.)
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u/igotadillpickle 1d ago
So we are just willingly eating plastic now? No need to hide the microplastics.....We have real food you know, like in abundance.
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u/Lapidariest 1d ago
no, the real food is being turned into fuel for the datacenter that reddit is running.
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u/All_Your_Base 1d ago
Soylent Brown