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NUS LySE Bacterial Evolution Platform for Plastic Chemistry 2026
NUS researchers developed LySE, a modified-bacteriophage platform that rapidly evolves large gene pathways and improved E. coli growth on ethylene glycol, a PET-plastic ingredient, by more than 50% after five cycles.
NUS LySE Bacterial Evolution Platform for Plastic Chemistry 2026
LySE platform
NUS researchers developed Lytic Selection and Evolution (LySE), a platform using a modified bacteriophage to create and select genetic changes in bacterial gene pathways. The system can work on DNA stretches of up to about 40,000 DNA letters, allowing researchers to evolve larger pathway clusters than methods with smaller limits. The research was published in Nature Microbiology on 1 May 2026 and publicised by NUS on 4 May 2026. (NUS, 4 May 2026, accessed 5 September 2026.)
Plastic-chemistry demonstration
As a proof of concept, LySE improved a five-gene pathway in E. coli that enabled the bacteria to use ethylene glycol, a chemical used in PET plastics, for growth and energy. After five selection cycles, the best-performing strain produced 50.9% more biomass using ethylene glycol as its sole food source. This result demonstrates pathway optimisation in a laboratory system; it does not establish that the bacteria can digest finished plastic waste at industrial scale. (NUS, 4 May 2026, accessed 5 September 2026.)
Applications and safety boundary
LySE may support future optimisation of pathways for pharmaceuticals, environmental pollutants and carbon capture, and NUS said a patent had been filed. The platform is a research technology and the release does not announce a commercial plastic-recycling process, environmental release, regulatory approval or completed scale-up. (NUS, 4 May 2026, accessed 5 September 2026.)
Record details
- Also known as
- ["LySE","Lytic Selection and Evolution","NUS plastic-eating bacteria research"]
- Jurisdiction
- SG
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Sources
- NUS scientists unveil a faster way to train bacteria for complex tasks Accessed 2026-09-05
Collection as of 2026-10-07 · An expanding collection. Published counts show available knowledge, not complete coverage of Singapore.