A patent application, in which both Purdue and DuPont have rights, has been filed on the use of the gene for the production of monomers. Chapple also received the 2001 Agricultural Researcher Award from the Purdue School of Agriculture for his work. Plastics are produced by making chains of compounds derived from petroleum. Scientists call these chains polymers, and the individual molecules that form the chain are called monomers. One reason scientists are interested in making plastics from plants is that plants produce an amazing array of compounds that could be used for monomers in plastics.
Plants also are much more versatile than petroleum.
We can exploit that ability by using genomics to identify the genes required to make those compounds and by using biotechnology to insert the genes into crop plants. Until now, however, the problem has been trying to get plants to make enough of these substances for the whole process to be economically viable, he says. Although crude oil supplies are finite, petroleum has been a much less expensive source for plastic monomers. Fortunately, plants already have methods for making and storing large amounts of compounds that help protect them from insects, disease and ultraviolet radiation in sunlight. The vacuoles isolate the compound from the rest of the biochemical processes going on in the plant.