Known as Project VIBRANT, this bold initiative harnesses a tiny marine bacterium - Vibrio natriegens - to convert agricultural by-products into PHAs, a kind of bioplastic that can break down naturally in the environment.

Through interviews with the scientists and behind-the-scenes footage from the lab, we explore how microbial magic and big-picture thinking could help us shift away from harmful, fossil fuel-based plastics.

The plastic problem won’t be solved overnight. But with innovation, collaboration, and the power of biology, this team is helping chart a new path forward…and one that’s better for both people and the environment.

[1] Image Credits: Georg Fritz/Fritz Lab

[2] https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/53/13/gkaf580/8198045

[3] https://www.un-ilibrary.org/content/books/9789280740240

[4] Image credit: Getty Images / Ishara S. Kodikara (2023)

[5] Image credit: Getty Images / ullstein bild Dtl (2014)

[6] Image credit: Getty Images / Prakash Singh (2022)

[7] Image credit: Getty Images / Allison Joyce (2018)

[8] https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/febs.16958

[9] https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1462-2920.15128

[10] https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssynbio.1c00126

[11] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096717625000990?via%3Dihub