Engineered E. coli convert kimchi radish waste into biodegradable bioplastic

Every year, thousands of tons of radish by-products generated during kimchi production are discarded despite containing valuable carbon and nutrient resources. Researchers at the World Institute of Kimchi (WiKim) have developed a genome-scale model-guided microbial engineering strategy that enables these agricultural by-products to be converted into biodegradable bioplastics while rationally engineering microbial strains specifically for radish hydrolyzate.