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A new revolution is underway in the rubber industry. The future of petroleum- and carbon-free natural rubber production is closer than ever!
Forget oil and rubber tapping: a French innovation could change the world with a carbon-free, natural rubber that promises to save the planet and revolutionize billion-dollar industries! Imagine a sustainable solution that not only eliminates dependence on oil, but also removes millions of tons of CO₂ from the atmosphere.
A baCta startup is at the forefront of this transformation, creating a biosynthetic rubber that could rewrite the future of the environment and the global economy. Discover now how this disruptive technology could change everything you know!
The global rubber market generates US$40 billion (approximately R$223 billion)
Genetic engineering is the key to this transformation. baCta, founded in January this year, uses modified bacteria to produce natural rubber in the lab. This process eliminates the need for oil and rubber tree sap. The company recently secured €3,3 million (around R$20,1 million) in financing, which will allow it to scale up production. However, the biggest challenge now is to make this technology viable for industrial production.
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Today, global rubber consumption reaches 3,5 kg per person per year. This generates a market worth US$40 billion (approximately R$223 billion), which is heavily dependent on oil and sap. By replacing rubber with natural rubber, it would be possible to reduce CO500 emissions by 2 million tons, equivalent to the impact of dozens of countries. baCta believes that this change could transform the global market.
baCta’s bold vision: transforming microbes into programmable factories and revolutionizing oil-dependent industries
But how is this rubber made? In laboratories in Paris, genetically modified bacteria are fed glucose. However, tests are also being carried out with acetate and carbon. These microorganisms transform carbon into isoprene, an essential compound for the production of rubber. This process is carried out thanks to enzymes created by artificial intelligence. Then, using a patented technology, the isoprene is polymerized and transformed into carbon-negative rubber.
The funding obtained by baCta will be used to expand the team, integrating scientists and biotechnology experts. In addition, the startup wants to create prototypes in partnership with fashion companies and companies from various industrial sectors. The goal? To increase production and offer more environmentally friendly alternatives to the world.
“Our ambition goes beyond rubber,” explains Mathieu Nohet, CEO of the startup. According to him, the company wants to use microbes as “programmable molecular factories” to create a platform that produces carbon-negative inputs, such as isoprenoids. This paves the way for a revolution in industries that currently depend heavily on oil.
It is questionable whether this process is scalable and it certainly will not be commercially viable, given that petroleum-based plastic is incredibly cheap.
We need to tell investors and researchers that you already have information that is economically unviable. They are wasting their time.
Hahaha… Very good… There really is no shortage of presumptuous people…
Exactly, if the process of these enzymes occurred naturally, accompanied by an automated acceleration process, it would be a big step, but it is produced by artificial intelligence, using much more energy, and still using the infamous petroleum, since isopropene is polymerizable? LOL
And there are crazy people who fall for this nonsense to get money from **** innovative investors.
God bless these scientists.