Relevant Magazine

Scientists Are Turning Plastic Bottles Into Protein Cookies for Disaster Zones and Deep-Space Crews

Scientists Are Turning Plastic Bottles Into Protein Cookies for Disaster Zones and Deep-Space Crews

Wednesday, August 26, 2026
A team at Southern Illinois University Carbondale has programmed yeast to turn plastic bottles into cookies. They presented the work Monday at the American Chemical Society’s fall meeting in Chicago. The cookies are called µBites — pronounced “microbites” — and the project was funded by NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge. “We were trying to develop…