Promising of Biopolymers: from bioplastics to edible cuisine

All welcome to an Open seminar at the Faculty of Natural Resource Sciences On Wednesday, September 27^th at 12:00 in room M101

The seminar will be held in English and Sean Michael Scully, adjunct at The Faculty of Natural Resource Sciences, will deliver the talk: 

Promising of Biopolymers: from bioplastics to edible cuisine

Nature produces a diverse array of biopolymers ranging from the slimy polysaccharides that make up our genetic material (DNA) to robust structural materials such as cellulose. As synthetic polymers such as plastics touch every aspect of modern life, finding suitable bio-based alternatives that are not persistent environmental pollutants is a great societal and scientific challenge. We will look at the diversity and history of biopolymers, ranging early attempts to make thermoplastics from natural or partially synthetic raw materials, to the use more modern bio-based solutions such as polylactic acid and microbially-produced polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). The range of applications of edible biopolymers, such as seaweed-derived polysaccharides, will also be explored in a hands-on (and fully edible) demonstration on the potential of alginates for culinary spherification applications.

All welcome!