Nylon has been produced using sugar and genetically engineered yeast by a team of engineers from Iowa State University. Using these materials and a hybrid catalysis, the team led by Zengyi Shao and Jean-Philippe Tessonnier were able to create biobased, unsaturated nylon-6,6 at room temperature without having to use precious elements like palladium or platinum. Shao commented that this development “opens the door to the production of a broad range of compounds not accessible from the petrochemical industry.”
