Last week, Trends in Biotechnology published the first research paper we accepted as part of our new initiative: "Microbial production of an aromatic homopolyester" by Sang Yup Lee and colleagues. Today I wanted to give some editorial reflections on why we like the paper and explain how it fits into our newly expanded scope.
➡ Innovative application of biology: this paper isn't about learning new fundamental biology or gaining new chemical insight. Instead, it's about taking something biological (here, E. coli) and using it in an interesting new way: to make a kind of polymer called an aromatic homopolyester.
➡ Bio-based solution to an important problem: the biosynthetic strategy described here suggests an alternative way to make plastics using resources that are more renewable than petroleum.
➡ Qualitatively interesting for a broad audience: readers who are experts in metabolic engineering will be fascinated by the downregulation, overexpression, and heterologous expression of key microbial genes. But even readers who are not experts in this field can understand that the authors created a platform to make an interesting class of polymers in a new way.
➡ "Real world" implications: this study didn't just make a few grams of polymer in a benchtop tube, it produced polymer at the kilogram scale using a pilot plant fermenter. This evidence supports this approach as a true technology rather than being simply a lab-scale curiosity.
➡ Context for the technology and next steps: with elements familiar to Trends review articles like the Outstanding Questions, and the new Technology Readiness element, the authors give a candid appraisal of their own technology and identify downstream processing as a critical area of future research to commercialize the technology.
Intrigued? Read the paper at https://lnkd.in/ewsfzaVK and let me know what you think.