Delightful news from The Greens. More tea vicar? You'll never guess what your cup's made from!
Wednesday, 01 December 2021
A new eco-friendly plastic made from salmon sperm has been invented by scientists in China.
Two short strands of DNA from the sperm were combined with a chemical from vegetable oil that binds them together. What this creates is a squishy material known as hydrogel.
From here the gel is then moulded into different shapes and freeze-dried to remove the moisture, which makes it solidify. Researchers have already created a cup, puzzle pieces and a DNA molecule from the eco-friendly plastic.
Though the team of Chinese scientists created their raw materials from salmon sperm, DNA carries the genetic code for every living thing on Earth. A study from 2015 estimates that there are around 50 billion tonnes of DNA on the planet.