Polyhydroxyalkanoates as biomaterials

Bacillus subtilis as potential producer for polyhydroxyalkanoates

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable polymers produced by microbes to overcome environmental stress. Commercial production of PHAs is limited by the high cost of production compared to conventional plastics. Another hindrance is the brittle nature and low strength of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), the most widely studied PHA. The needs are to produce PHAs, which have better elastomeric pr...

Biodegradable polymers as biomaterials

During the past two decades significant advances have been made in the development of biodegradable polymeric materials for biomedical applications. Degradable polymeric biomaterials are preferred candidates for developing therapeutic devices such as temporary prostheses, three-dimensional porous structures as scaffolds for tissue engineering and as controlled/sustained release drug delivery ve...

Organotin Polyethers as Biomaterials

Organotin polyethers are easily synthesized employing interfacial polymerization systems involving the reaction of hydroxyl-containing Lewis bases and organotin halides. A wide variety of organotin-containing polymeric products have been synthesized including those derived from natural and synthetic polymers such as lignin, xylan, cellulose, dextran, and poly(vinyl alcohol). Others have been sy...

Peroxisomes as sites for synthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates in transgenic plants.

Bacterial genes responsible for poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) biosynthesis were targeted to plant peroxisomes by adding a carboxy-terminal targeting sequence. The enzymes evidently were transported into peroxisomes, retained their catalytic activity, and reacted with peroxisomally available precursors because PHB synthesis in transgenic plant cells was localized to peroxisomes. Up to 2 mg/g fre...

Titanium and Titanium Alloys as Biomaterials