"Regardless of the outcome, Paul Watson will undoubtedly go down in history as a Hero, and this crucial chapter will be remembered as well as the people who supported him in this difficult situation. "You can meet me in person in front of the parliament in Copenhagen on August 12 at 11:11am or show your support online by relaying the information about our peaceful protest. ill you join me in this fight? I'm counting on you! Wherever you are!" Watson was arrested on July 21 in Nuuk, Greenland where his ship was docked. Watson's detention in Greenland has been approved up to August 15.

But unlike petrochemical processes, biomanufacturing can be used to brew chemicals with molecular precision, designing plastics with better performance than what we can extract from petroleum. (Inspired by spider silk, which is 340 times stronger than steel, Japanese synthetic biology startup Spiber is employing a similar strategy to produce high-performance synthetic polymers not just for automotives, but eventually also for medical devices, construction, sports, aerospace, furniture, and robotics.)

Henry Ford made a splash at the 1941 city festival in Dearborn, Michigan. There, he and his team of chemists debuted a car unlike any the world had seen: The soybean car, as it came to be known, bore a glossy white body made entirely of plastic. Ford promised such vehicles would be lighter and safer than the steel-wrapped ones he was famous for manufacturing. In a move reminiscent of a Tesla TSLA event, Ford even brought an ax down on a plastic car hood to demonstrate its superior strength.

Follow me on Twitter at @johncumbers and @synbiobeta. Subscribe to my weekly newsletters in synthetic biology. Thank you to Ian Haydon for additional research and reporting in this article. I’m the founder of SynBioBeta, and some of the companies that I write about are sponsors of the SynBioBeta conference and weekly digest. Here’s the full list of SynBioBeta sponsors.

As part of the new partnership, Praj will leverage its expertise in process development, optimization, design scale-up and will further integrate lactic acid as a source material for PLA.

"Whaling has been banned by international laws since 1986. In his own words 'IF THE OCEANS DIE, WE DIE'. Paul also said 'I DO WHAT I DO BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO'. He sees the importance of this fight for the Oceans and ultimately the survival of life on earth. This sums up why we need to stand for him before it's too late. "The decision of his extradition will be made on August 15 (in less than 2 weeks). We intend to be there and rally as many people as possible to sway the minister of Justice and the Prime Minister's decision. "Regardless of the outcome, Paul Watson will undoubtedly go down in history as a Hero, and this crucial chapter will be remembered as well as the people who supported him in this difficult situation. "You can meet me in person in front of the parliament in Copenhagen on August 12 at 11:11am or show your support online by relaying the information about our peaceful protest. ill you join me in this fight? I'm counting on you! Wherever you are!" Watson was arrested on July 21 in Nuuk, Greenland where his ship was docked. Watson's detention in Greenland has been approved up to August 15.

PLA is an established substitute for many petrochemical plastics found in cups, bags, and other common consumer items. It is completely biodegradable and has even been used inside the human body in the form of disappearing surgical screws and sutures.

This month, Praj Industries, based in India, and Lygos, based in California, announced a partnership to create a new, greener feedstock for bioplastic manufacturing. The pair will use yeast to brew lactic acid, a precursor for the bioplastic polylactic acid, or PLA.

Watson was arrested on July 21 in Nuuk, Greenland where his ship was docked. Watson's detention in Greenland has been approved up to August 15.

"We need to get him out of this situation immediately. His work is the perfect example of constructive 'Civil Disobedience'. He's only trying to slow down activities that are illegal in the first place. "Whaling has been banned by international laws since 1986. In his own words 'IF THE OCEANS DIE, WE DIE'. Paul also said 'I DO WHAT I DO BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO'. He sees the importance of this fight for the Oceans and ultimately the survival of life on earth. This sums up why we need to stand for him before it's too late. "The decision of his extradition will be made on August 15 (in less than 2 weeks). We intend to be there and rally as many people as possible to sway the minister of Justice and the Prime Minister's decision. "Regardless of the outcome, Paul Watson will undoubtedly go down in history as a Hero, and this crucial chapter will be remembered as well as the people who supported him in this difficult situation. "You can meet me in person in front of the parliament in Copenhagen on August 12 at 11:11am or show your support online by relaying the information about our peaceful protest. ill you join me in this fight? I'm counting on you! Wherever you are!" Watson was arrested on July 21 in Nuuk, Greenland where his ship was docked. Watson's detention in Greenland has been approved up to August 15.

According to Yahoo! News, Watson's arrest was thanks to the Japanese coast guard seeking him out over a 2010 confrontation with a Japanese whaling research. Watson was accused at the time of "obstructing the crew's official duties by ordering the captain of his ship to throw explosives at the whaling ship." Watson – who you might know as the founder of the Sea Shepherd activist group and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation – is potentially being extradited to Japan to face charges. Among the critics of these charges is Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier, who is planning on participating in a peaceful protest on August 12 at the parliament building in Copenhagen, Denmark asking for Greenland (an autonomous arm of Denmark) to release Watson. "Denmark! I will be in Copenhagen on August 12 to demand the release of our friend Captain Paul Watson, global environmental Hero, co-founder of Greenpeace, founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and more recently 'Neptune’s Pirates'," said Duplantier on his social media. "Paul is held captive by Denmark and scheduled to be extradited to Japan where he would spend the rest of his life in jail, because of his efforts to protect marine wildlife around the world's oceans. "We need to get him out of this situation immediately. His work is the perfect example of constructive 'Civil Disobedience'. He's only trying to slow down activities that are illegal in the first place. "Whaling has been banned by international laws since 1986. In his own words 'IF THE OCEANS DIE, WE DIE'. Paul also said 'I DO WHAT I DO BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO'. He sees the importance of this fight for the Oceans and ultimately the survival of life on earth. This sums up why we need to stand for him before it's too late. "The decision of his extradition will be made on August 15 (in less than 2 weeks). We intend to be there and rally as many people as possible to sway the minister of Justice and the Prime Minister's decision. "Regardless of the outcome, Paul Watson will undoubtedly go down in history as a Hero, and this crucial chapter will be remembered as well as the people who supported him in this difficult situation. "You can meet me in person in front of the parliament in Copenhagen on August 12 at 11:11am or show your support online by relaying the information about our peaceful protest. ill you join me in this fight? I'm counting on you! Wherever you are!" Watson was arrested on July 21 in Nuuk, Greenland where his ship was docked. Watson's detention in Greenland has been approved up to August 15.

"Denmark! I will be in Copenhagen on August 12 to demand the release of our friend Captain Paul Watson, global environmental Hero, co-founder of Greenpeace, founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and more recently 'Neptune’s Pirates'," said Duplantier on his social media. "Paul is held captive by Denmark and scheduled to be extradited to Japan where he would spend the rest of his life in jail, because of his efforts to protect marine wildlife around the world's oceans. "We need to get him out of this situation immediately. His work is the perfect example of constructive 'Civil Disobedience'. He's only trying to slow down activities that are illegal in the first place. "Whaling has been banned by international laws since 1986. In his own words 'IF THE OCEANS DIE, WE DIE'. Paul also said 'I DO WHAT I DO BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO'. He sees the importance of this fight for the Oceans and ultimately the survival of life on earth. This sums up why we need to stand for him before it's too late. "The decision of his extradition will be made on August 15 (in less than 2 weeks). We intend to be there and rally as many people as possible to sway the minister of Justice and the Prime Minister's decision. "Regardless of the outcome, Paul Watson will undoubtedly go down in history as a Hero, and this crucial chapter will be remembered as well as the people who supported him in this difficult situation. "You can meet me in person in front of the parliament in Copenhagen on August 12 at 11:11am or show your support online by relaying the information about our peaceful protest. ill you join me in this fight? I'm counting on you! Wherever you are!" Watson was arrested on July 21 in Nuuk, Greenland where his ship was docked. Watson's detention in Greenland has been approved up to August 15.

Indeed, the soybean car was built from what is now called bioplastic. Robert Boyer, the chemist who led the project, estimated that to produce a million such cars, the Ford Motor Company would need 100,000 bales of cotton, 500,000 bushels of wheat, 700,000 bushels of soybeans, and 500,000 bushels of corn.

World War Two squelched Ford’s bioplastic project. But today’s consumer vehicles do feature plastic bodies. Those shells, however—like almost all the shopping bags, packing peanuts, toothbrushes, and other detritus that’s choking the ocean—are made from petroleum, not plants.

“Our focus over the past three decades on environment, energy and agri-process industry complements global efforts to mitigate climate change and is in tune with global circular bioeconomy,” said Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman of Praj, in a statement.

Plastics are carbon-based materials that can be molded into almost any shape. Whether firm or flexible, all are made from simpler chemicals that link together to form the final substance.

One-third of a car's parts are plastic. If a new way of making plastic with biology plays out, not ... [+] only could we have lighter and more fuel-efficient automobiles, we could also enter an era of guilt-free plastic.

It might surprise you to learn that one-third of the 30,000 or so parts in a vehicle are already made out of plastic, as Nexant reports. About 39 different types of plastics and polymers are used to make a car, and virtually all of it comes from petrochemicals.

The first plastics ever invented were made from chemicals extracted from plants. But in the twentieth century, refined petroleum became the feedstock of choice, enabling the creation of nylon, Teflon, polyvinyl chloride, and countless other advanced synthetic materials.

Consumers today are beginning to recognize the inherent harm of petrochemical plastics. Bioplastics offer a seductive alternative, but they aren’t necessarily greener. As Boyer noted, bioplastic manufacturing requires a lot of farmland. If those fields are used to grow parts, they cannot be used to grow food. This tension between the carbon cost of farming and the carbon benefits of bioplastics has sullied the promise of many bio-based materials, including many of today’s bioplastics.

As I have written about before, Lygos specializes in training microbes to do the hard work of manufacturing. Through microbial production of malonic acid and other chemicals, Lygos aims to disrupt the use of petrochemicals in the automotive and manufacturing sectors.

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson has been under arrest in Greenland for roughly one month thanks to a Japanese warrant. According to Yahoo! News, Watson's arrest was thanks to the Japanese coast guard seeking him out over a 2010 confrontation with a Japanese whaling research. Watson was accused at the time of "obstructing the crew's official duties by ordering the captain of his ship to throw explosives at the whaling ship." Watson – who you might know as the founder of the Sea Shepherd activist group and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation – is potentially being extradited to Japan to face charges. Among the critics of these charges is Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier, who is planning on participating in a peaceful protest on August 12 at the parliament building in Copenhagen, Denmark asking for Greenland (an autonomous arm of Denmark) to release Watson. "Denmark! I will be in Copenhagen on August 12 to demand the release of our friend Captain Paul Watson, global environmental Hero, co-founder of Greenpeace, founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and more recently 'Neptune’s Pirates'," said Duplantier on his social media. "Paul is held captive by Denmark and scheduled to be extradited to Japan where he would spend the rest of his life in jail, because of his efforts to protect marine wildlife around the world's oceans. "We need to get him out of this situation immediately. His work is the perfect example of constructive 'Civil Disobedience'. He's only trying to slow down activities that are illegal in the first place. "Whaling has been banned by international laws since 1986. In his own words 'IF THE OCEANS DIE, WE DIE'. Paul also said 'I DO WHAT I DO BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO'. He sees the importance of this fight for the Oceans and ultimately the survival of life on earth. This sums up why we need to stand for him before it's too late. "The decision of his extradition will be made on August 15 (in less than 2 weeks). We intend to be there and rally as many people as possible to sway the minister of Justice and the Prime Minister's decision. "Regardless of the outcome, Paul Watson will undoubtedly go down in history as a Hero, and this crucial chapter will be remembered as well as the people who supported him in this difficult situation. "You can meet me in person in front of the parliament in Copenhagen on August 12 at 11:11am or show your support online by relaying the information about our peaceful protest. ill you join me in this fight? I'm counting on you! Wherever you are!" Watson was arrested on July 21 in Nuuk, Greenland where his ship was docked. Watson's detention in Greenland has been approved up to August 15.

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“We are pleased to partner with Praj and the Praj Matrix team whose deep expertise spans commercialization, engineering, and scale-up, construction and operation of similar industrial processes. This is an exciting time where the world’s demand for sustainable, safe products not produced from toxic petroleum continues to grow,” said Lygos CEO Eric Steen.

Ford saw a bright future in plastics. “Literally tens of thousands of articles and manufactured automobile parts now made of metals will be made plastically from materials grown on the farm,” he told the New York Times NYT .

If companies like Lygos are able to make manufacturing bioplastics take off, not only could we realize Henry Ford’s vision of more affordable and fuel-efficient vehicles, but we may also enter a world of truly guilt-free plastic.

"The decision of his extradition will be made on August 15 (in less than 2 weeks). We intend to be there and rally as many people as possible to sway the minister of Justice and the Prime Minister's decision. "Regardless of the outcome, Paul Watson will undoubtedly go down in history as a Hero, and this crucial chapter will be remembered as well as the people who supported him in this difficult situation. "You can meet me in person in front of the parliament in Copenhagen on August 12 at 11:11am or show your support online by relaying the information about our peaceful protest. ill you join me in this fight? I'm counting on you! Wherever you are!" Watson was arrested on July 21 in Nuuk, Greenland where his ship was docked. Watson's detention in Greenland has been approved up to August 15.

"You can meet me in person in front of the parliament in Copenhagen on August 12 at 11:11am or show your support online by relaying the information about our peaceful protest. ill you join me in this fight? I'm counting on you! Wherever you are!" Watson was arrested on July 21 in Nuuk, Greenland where his ship was docked. Watson's detention in Greenland has been approved up to August 15.

Watson – who you might know as the founder of the Sea Shepherd activist group and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation – is potentially being extradited to Japan to face charges. Among the critics of these charges is Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier, who is planning on participating in a peaceful protest on August 12 at the parliament building in Copenhagen, Denmark asking for Greenland (an autonomous arm of Denmark) to release Watson. "Denmark! I will be in Copenhagen on August 12 to demand the release of our friend Captain Paul Watson, global environmental Hero, co-founder of Greenpeace, founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and more recently 'Neptune’s Pirates'," said Duplantier on his social media. "Paul is held captive by Denmark and scheduled to be extradited to Japan where he would spend the rest of his life in jail, because of his efforts to protect marine wildlife around the world's oceans. "We need to get him out of this situation immediately. His work is the perfect example of constructive 'Civil Disobedience'. He's only trying to slow down activities that are illegal in the first place. "Whaling has been banned by international laws since 1986. In his own words 'IF THE OCEANS DIE, WE DIE'. Paul also said 'I DO WHAT I DO BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO'. He sees the importance of this fight for the Oceans and ultimately the survival of life on earth. This sums up why we need to stand for him before it's too late. "The decision of his extradition will be made on August 15 (in less than 2 weeks). We intend to be there and rally as many people as possible to sway the minister of Justice and the Prime Minister's decision. "Regardless of the outcome, Paul Watson will undoubtedly go down in history as a Hero, and this crucial chapter will be remembered as well as the people who supported him in this difficult situation. "You can meet me in person in front of the parliament in Copenhagen on August 12 at 11:11am or show your support online by relaying the information about our peaceful protest. ill you join me in this fight? I'm counting on you! Wherever you are!" Watson was arrested on July 21 in Nuuk, Greenland where his ship was docked. Watson's detention in Greenland has been approved up to August 15.