The textile and meat-processing industries produce billions of tons of waste annually in the form of feathers, wool and hair, all of which are rich in keratin—the strong, fibrous protein found in hair, skin and nails. Turning all that animal waste into useful products—from wound dressings to eco-friendly textiles to health extracts—would be a boon for the environment and for new, sustainable industries. But upcycling proteins is challenging: Breaking down, or denaturing, proteins into their component parts typically requires corrosive chemicals in large, polluting facilities, keeping any cost-effective protocol out of reach.
Researchers in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have uncovered key fundamental chemistry involved in the denaturing of proteins like keratin in the presence of certain salt compounds—an insight that could take protein recycling to the next level. Better understanding and designing protein extraction methods that are less energy-intensive and less polluting than conventional ones opens potential avenues for protein-upcycling industries. In the Parker lab, using keratin as a substrate for tissue engineering is a major research thrust; having a reliable, sustainable method to extract and re-use such products would bolster their efforts.
What’s more, the process could lay a path for a whole new biomaterials industry, turning a massive waste stream like hair or chicken feathers into low-cost recycled materials, possibly as an alternative for traditional plastics, for example.
Source: Phys.org
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