A team of scientists managed to transform urine into hydroxypatitis (HAP), a biocompatible substance with a high commercial value that is used in the medical field for develop bone and dental systems and in the archaeological field to restore ancient artifacts.
“We have achieved two goals in a single time», explains David Kisailus, one of the authors of the study published on Nature Communications: «Our system on the one hand helps to remove human urine from waste water flows, reducing environmental pollution and accumulation of unwanted nutrients; on the other hand it produces a material that can be sold to be used in different contexts ».
Pee, yeast and bones. We mammals have specialized cells, called Osteoblastiwho take care of forming new bone by taking the calcium phosphate from body fluids, which is then processed and transformed into hydroxiapite. Since osteoblasts cannot be used to produce large quantities of hap in the laboratory, researchers have decided to develop Synthetic yeast cells that use enzymes to break down the urea and increase the pH of the surrounding environment. In this way, small cavities are formed in the yeast, where they accumulate football and phosphate Which in turn, crystallizing, form hydroxyapatitis.
Quick and cheap solution. This method allows you to produce up to 1 gram of hap per liter of urine in less than a day. «The fact that the basis of the procedure is the yeast, which costs nothing and can be contained in large tanks at relatively low temperatures, makes it accessible to developing economies Without the need to build great infrastructures, “underlines Kisailus.
Not only medicine. According to scientists, the HAP can be an excellent basis for developing anbiodegradable alternative to plastic and construction materialsgiven its mechanical strength, its hardness and resistance. Kisailus and colleagues are working on solutions to create, starting from the hydroxiapite produced in the laboratory, multifunctional architectural materials – which do not serve, that is, only to buildbut who also have other functions, such as thermal insulation or the ability to absorb seismic energy.
