Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have engineered Escherichia coli bacteria to convert polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste into paracetamol (acetaminophen), as reported in Nature Chemistry. The process couples chemical degradation of plastic with a biological Lossen rearrangement reaction occurring in living cells. This innovative chemo-biological approach achieves a 92% conversion rate and represents a scalable sustainable alternative to fossil fuel-derived pharmaceutical synthesis. AstraZeneca is collaborating to scale and potentially commercialize this biomanufacturing platform.