Introduction

In this era of depleting fossil resources and deteriorating natural environments, sustainable development is no longer just a catch-phrase but has become an important undertaking by all countries.  Many are aware of the intricate link between petrochemicals, xenobiotics and the biogeochemical cycles, so in sustainable development, there is emphasis on:

• using renewable resources as raw ingredients

• developing manufacturing processes that do not impact the natural environments

• the industrial product itself does not impact the environment during and after its useful life

  Plastics, in all their myriad forms and applications, are a very important material.  However they are also one of the biggest environmental pollutants due largely to their recalcitrance or very slow degradation which has led to worldwide problems of clogging landfills, killing wildlike (e.g. from fishing nets) and generating toxic gas when incinerated.  Coupled with depleting petroleum supplies, the development of alternative plastic materials has become an important research and industrial focus. 

  Alternative plastic materials should have the following properties:

• They are made from renewable resources.

• They have useful material properties much like the conventional petrochemical plastics, but should degrade readily in appropriate environments.

• The intermediate and final products of the degradation should be harmless to organisms and re-enter the biogeochemical cycles.

• A bonus would be if these alternative plastic materials are biocompatible because applications in the biomedical fields are increasingly being sought, e.g. as orthopaedic implants, tissue scaffolds and controlled release matrix for drugs.

  Agriculture continues to be a significant income-earner for Malaysia . Besides being one of the world’s major producers of palm oil and rubber, the country has vast plantations of other crops such as fruits, rice, sago and pepper.  All of these agro-industries generate effluents which need to be treated to reduce the high biological and chemical oxygen demands, BOD and COD, in the raw effluents.  Whether they are the primary product, e.g. palm oil and rubber, or the effluents, these compounds are all renewable resources that could be metabolized by microorganisms to produce industrially-useful products.

Objectives

This research group has the primary objective of making bioplastic materials by using the renewable resources that are readily available in Malaysia .  One of these materials is polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), a hydrophobic intracellular inclusion in bacteria which serves as carbon and energy store for the bacteria.  Depending on the genetic make-up of the bacteria, different types of PHA are synthesized and they have different material properties suited for different industrial applications.  The medium-chain-length PHA (PHA_MCL) is a copolymer in which the monomeric composition reflects the fatty acid profile of the carbon substrate.  As we have easy access to palm oil, palm kernel oil and fatty acids, much of our studies was directed at using these carbon sources to make PHA_MCL.  This project was conceived and conducted with a multi-disciplinary approach which covers the following areas:

• The isolation and screening of indigenous bacteria for the ability to make PHA.

• Testing of palm oil, palm kernel oil and fatty acids as carbon source for PHA synthesis.

• Extraction, purification and characterization of the PHA.

• Scaling up the fermentation process and optimizing conditions to maximize yield of cells and PHA.

• Developing alternative methods to recover the PHA from the bacterial cells.

• Testing the degradability of the PHA in natural and controlled environments.

• Testing the biocompatibility of the PHA in animal studies.

• Incorporating PHA in composite materials.

Members

UM academic staff involved in this PHA project are:

• Prof. Dr. Irene Kit-Ping Tan, Institute of Biological Sciences
• Prof. Dr. Gan Seng-Neon, Department of Chemistry
• Prof. Dr. K.B.Ramachandran, Department of Chemical Engineering
• Prof. Dr. Lian Chin Boon, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Prof. Dr. Siar Chong Huat, Department of Oral Pathology, Oral Medicine and Periodontology
• Prof. Dr. Ong Siew Tin, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Dr. Mohd. Suffian Mohd. Annuar, Institute of Biological Sciences

Awards and Recognitions

• Silver Medal for a joint project with the Fac.of Dentistry, UM entitled “PHA as a potential scaffolding material for rigid fracture fixation of the maxillofacial skeleton” in the 33rd International Exhibition of Inventions, New Techniques & Products in Geneva

• Gold Medal (Invention/Innovation Category) in Expo S&T 2004, for a joint project with the Fac.of Dentistry, UM entitled “PHA as a potential material for the construction of plates and screws for rigid maxillofacial fracture fixation: Biocompatibility studies”

• Fulbright Scholar, Fulbright Program, USA, 2001, (International)

• GBF International Training Programme Award for outstanding contribution to the development of biotechnology in the recipient's country, Gesellschaft fuer Biotechnologische Forschung (GBF), Braunshweig, Germany, 1996, (International)

• Postdoctoral research in the University of Leon, Spain, Spanish government, 1991, (International

• Postgraduate university course in microbiology and biotechnology, Osaka U and Kyoto U, UNESCO and Japanese government, 1979, (International)

• Visiting Scientist to Nagoya University, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), 1998, (International)

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