In coverage of the quadrennial joint annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Physiologists and Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists with participation of the Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists and the Australian Society of Plant Physiologists, Inc, The Vancouver Sun Science Reporter Margaret Munroe wrote a story for the August 13 publication titled, "Genetically engineered plants produce plastic". The article explained research done by ASPP member Chris Somerville to engineer plants which will produce biodegradable plastic.

The article said these new plants "could give farmers a much-needed financial boost" and that, "According to some proponents, the new plants could even give fossil fuels a run for their money. Plant oils and extracts could one day be more popular and economical for many industrial applications than the petroleum now feeding the world's petrochemical and fuel sector...."

"We accumulate fat when we overeat, these plants accumulate plastic," Somerville explained to the newspaper.

"Somerville engineered the plastic-producing plants by giving them three genes from bacteria, which naturally store excess sugar in plastic molecules. The genes, once inserted properly into the plants' genetic machinery, trigger production of long-chained plastic molecules in tissues throughout the plants.

"Plastic is normally made by linking molecules from petroleum products together in petrochemical factories. The bonds are so strong, the plastic doesn't disintegrate.

"Somerville's plants operate on much the same principle, except they use a natural process to fuse the organic molecules together into plastic molecules," Munroe continued.

The article said that the first plastic-producing plant Somerville's team engineered was a common mustard weed called Arabidopsis. "Monsanto has since licensed his techniques and engineered the plastic-generating genes into canola and soybeans. The 'natural' plastic they produce is biodegradable, in that it's readily broken down by bacteria, which eventually reduce the plastic molecules to carbon dioxide and water," Munroe noted.

"'You can throw it in your backyard and it disappears before your eyes,' says Somerville. A plastic bag will disappear within six weeks and shampoo bottles are 90 percent gone in six months, he says."

"'There are more than 250,000 species of higher plants and we only use less than 100 species,' says Somerville. He is engineering a new breed of canola to generate the highly durable plastic molecules and nylons that might be used in paint or car parts. He's also hunting for enzymes capable of turning old tires into something useful. 'There are mountains of rubber out there,' he says."

David Taylor of the National Research Council of Canada's Plant Biotechnology Institute in Saskatoon participated in the opening symposium on metabolic engineering at the ASPP annual meeting coordinated by Somerville. In reporting on David Taylor's research on canola, The Vancouver Sun article noted that transgenic canola seed oil content has been increased 10 to 50 percent in the lab. "While there are plenty of critics of genetic engineering, Taylor and Somerville are confident their transgenic plants can be safely used," the article said.

The Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Examiner and Energy Today contacted ASPP for more information concerning programs at the annual meeting. Seattle-based freelance writer Jim Kling, who had earlier written a story on phytoremediation for Environmental Science & Technology, attended the annual meeting on two days and spoke with poster exhibitors and staff. The ASPP annual meeting was also mentioned on a 24-hour radio news station in Vancouver.