Scientists at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have developed a way to convert discarded plastic bottles and agricultural waste into edible, protein-rich cookies in a breakthrough they believe could one day feed astronauts, submariners, or disaster victims.
The findings were presented Monday by Sandhya Jayasekara, a graduate research assistant on the team led by associate professor of microbiology Lahiru Jayakody, at the American Chemical Society's fall meeting in Chicago.
The project, which began in 2021, was initially designed for NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge. The result is a small, 3D-printed cookie dubbed a "µBite," which researchers are still awaiting university approval to taste-test.
The intention of tackling food insecurity and plastic pollution is noble, but eating food derived from processed plastic slurry still raises real questions about how far we're willing to stray from natural, whole-food solutions.
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