Waste-Powered Nutritional Supplements

While exploring a sustainable way of producing amino acids, a research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) developed a process that turns shells of crustaceans and wood waste into nutritional supplements and medicine. The team was led by Associate Professor Yan Ning and Assistant Professor Zhou Kang.

Part of NUS' Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department, the researchers "devised a method to turn shells from prawns and crabs into L-DOPA, a widely used drug to treat Parkinson's disease. A similar method can be used to convert wood waste to Proline, which is essential for the formation of healthy collagen and cartilage."

The push for waste-powered production has also been accelerating in the medical industry as everyone is looking for ways to "reduce reliance on the use of non-renewable fossil fuels and energy-consuming processes.

Image Credit: National University of Singapore