4 ms·

New Process Uses Microbes to Create Valuable Materials from Urine

52 points by gmays 1y ago

LargoLasskhyfv 1y ago
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59416-8#Abs1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59416-8#Abs1 The valuable materials are artificial bone made from hydroxyapatite produced by yeast, used in bone surgery and dentistry.
- kjkjadksj 1y ago
  Now imagine how big the market would be if people could actually get cosmetic dental work covered under insurance
  - LargoLasskhyfv 1y ago
    There is no need to imagine that. It depends on the country, and your insurance. I've experienced it, not personally, because no need so far (phew!). But when I grew up that was free, for all. Like glasses, too. Still don't really care, because now it would be covered by my private insurance. If not they'd get sued into oblivion really fast, even if I would be incapacitated somehow.
schiffern 1y ago
Also check out the CodysLab version of biological urine reuse (aka the giant aquarium filter): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhYW0QVS408 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhYW0QVS408 Great channel. Quite a shame to hear about Cody's burnout after constant issues getting paid by YouTube, and apparently dating problems with the stigma associated with "youtuber."
analog31 1y ago
Not the first time that urine has been used as a raw material at scale https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/the-strange-story-of-why-human-urine-was-transported-to-quarries-in-yorkshire-694402 https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/whats-on/arts-and-entertainm...
ChuckMcM 1y ago
This is an interesting paper. I had read about recycling cow urine in dairies[1] and I wonder if the yeast would be able to make hydroxypatite out of it. At the time I came across this paper I was looking at people creating financial incentives to produce ammonia (and ammonium nitrate) at scale for farming. We import a bunch of it[2] and making it locally would be a win/win. [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128222652000077 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B97801... [2] https://wits.worldbank.org/trade/comtrade/en/country/USA/year/2023/tradeflow/Imports/partner/ALL/product/310230 https://wits.worldbank.org/trade/comtrade/en/country/USA/yea...
- icoder 1y ago
  Here in the Netherlands the impact of Nitrogen coming from cattle excretions (mostly through ammonia I believe) is paralizing the entire country (due to the impact on the environment, it's now blocking the building of - very much needed - housing. So there could be a win/win/win/win there.
  - throwaway77385 1y ago
    Interesting. First time I've heard of this outside the UK. In my local area, there's a near total moratorium on new-builds. The reasons are complex, but it's a mixture of agriculture having poisoned all the rivers, housing which is not connected to mains waste water (and people just not maintaining their private waste water systems, which are often just tanks of excrement mixed with chemicals, overflowing into nature) and, even if houses connected to mains, those constantly overflow into storm drains and make the rivers and coasts dangerous to swim in. All of that while it's completely clear that if we need one thing, it's more housing. Quite a predicament we find ourselves in.
    - amy214 1y ago
      California is like this, for different reasons. Mostly the leaders think nature > humanity so the more they cap the knees of civilization, more for nature, and that's a good and meaningful legacy in their minds. Of course this is a politically dangerous thing to speak up about publicly, so it's more along the lines of "uhhh we need to make sure the house you build is safe, so you need 50,000 pages describing how safe it is, must be evaluated by an army of Phds, and rejections take 5 years"
interestica 1y ago
Check out the Rich Earth Institute in Vermont. They're doing cool experimentation and research. https://richearthinstitute.org/ https://richearthinstitute.org/
aaron695 1y ago
[dead]
thayne 1y ago
Cool But is there enough demand for this to make it economical? I would guess the cost of material would be a very small percentage of the cost pf operations that use hydroxyapatite.
WalterBright 1y ago
Urine has historically been used to create gunpowder. The Romans used urine as laundry detergent.
- schiffern 1y ago
  If the Romans had only known, they could've used chewed watermelon seeds which contain urease. Adding this catalyst greatly speeds up the volatilization reaction from 3-5 weeks to overnight,[0] eliminating the need for Roman laundries to buffer weeks worth of urine as they wait for it to turn into ammonia. There's a reason why Roman laundries were usually located just outside the city, ideally on the downwind side... [0] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291165299_Citrullus_lanatus_seeds_as_a_urine_catalyst_for_anthroponics_use https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291165299_Citrullus...
  - Scoundreller 1y ago
    Even a single seed did the job per that study. Only problem was that watermelon didn’t hit the European side of the empire until the endish
  - aitchnyu 1y ago
    A city which had shared toilet sponges would be known for being stinky by lots of authors.
jrflowers 1y ago
Finally, a way to turn urine into bones. I’ve been saying “we need to find a way to turn urine into bones” for years and people told me that it couldn’t be done
v3ss0n 1y ago
So as in the the acient alchemy wisdom describe in Emerald Tablet

52 points by gmays 1y ago

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59416-8#Abs1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59416-8#Abs1 The valuable materials are artificial bone made from hydroxyapatite produced by yeast, used in bone surgery and dentistry.

kjkjadksj 1y ago
Now imagine how big the market would be if people could actually get cosmetic dental work covered under insurance
- LargoLasskhyfv 1y ago
  There is no need to imagine that. It depends on the country, and your insurance. I've experienced it, not personally, because no need so far (phew!). But when I grew up that was free, for all. Like glasses, too. Still don't really care, because now it would be covered by my private insurance. If not they'd get sued into oblivion really fast, even if I would be incapacitated somehow.

schiffern 1y ago

Also check out the CodysLab version of biological urine reuse (aka the giant aquarium filter): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhYW0QVS408 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhYW0QVS408 Great channel. Quite a shame to hear about Cody's burnout after constant issues getting paid by YouTube, and apparently dating problems with the stigma associated with "youtuber."

analog31 1y ago

Not the first time that urine has been used as a raw material at scale https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/the-strange-story-of-why-human-urine-was-transported-to-quarries-in-yorkshire-694402 https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/whats-on/arts-and-entertainm...

ChuckMcM 1y ago

This is an interesting paper. I had read about recycling cow urine in dairies[1] and I wonder if the yeast would be able to make hydroxypatite out of it. At the time I came across this paper I was looking at people creating financial incentives to produce ammonia (and ammonium nitrate) at scale for farming. We import a bunch of it[2] and making it locally would be a win/win. [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128222652000077 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B97801... [2] https://wits.worldbank.org/trade/comtrade/en/country/USA/year/2023/tradeflow/Imports/partner/ALL/product/310230 https://wits.worldbank.org/trade/comtrade/en/country/USA/yea...

icoder 1y ago
Here in the Netherlands the impact of Nitrogen coming from cattle excretions (mostly through ammonia I believe) is paralizing the entire country (due to the impact on the environment, it's now blocking the building of - very much needed - housing. So there could be a win/win/win/win there.
- throwaway77385 1y ago
  Interesting. First time I've heard of this outside the UK. In my local area, there's a near total moratorium on new-builds. The reasons are complex, but it's a mixture of agriculture having poisoned all the rivers, housing which is not connected to mains waste water (and people just not maintaining their private waste water systems, which are often just tanks of excrement mixed with chemicals, overflowing into nature) and, even if houses connected to mains, those constantly overflow into storm drains and make the rivers and coasts dangerous to swim in. All of that while it's completely clear that if we need one thing, it's more housing. Quite a predicament we find ourselves in.
  - amy214 1y ago
    California is like this, for different reasons. Mostly the leaders think nature > humanity so the more they cap the knees of civilization, more for nature, and that's a good and meaningful legacy in their minds. Of course this is a politically dangerous thing to speak up about publicly, so it's more along the lines of "uhhh we need to make sure the house you build is safe, so you need 50,000 pages describing how safe it is, must be evaluated by an army of Phds, and rejections take 5 years"

interestica 1y ago

Check out the Rich Earth Institute in Vermont. They're doing cool experimentation and research. https://richearthinstitute.org/ https://richearthinstitute.org/

aaron695 1y ago

[dead]

thayne 1y ago

Cool But is there enough demand for this to make it economical? I would guess the cost of material would be a very small percentage of the cost pf operations that use hydroxyapatite.

WalterBright 1y ago

Urine has historically been used to create gunpowder. The Romans used urine as laundry detergent.

schiffern 1y ago
If the Romans had only known, they could've used chewed watermelon seeds which contain urease. Adding this catalyst greatly speeds up the volatilization reaction from 3-5 weeks to overnight,[0] eliminating the need for Roman laundries to buffer weeks worth of urine as they wait for it to turn into ammonia. There's a reason why Roman laundries were usually located just outside the city, ideally on the downwind side... [0] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291165299_Citrullus_lanatus_seeds_as_a_urine_catalyst_for_anthroponics_use https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291165299_Citrullus...
- Scoundreller 1y ago
  Even a single seed did the job per that study. Only problem was that watermelon didn’t hit the European side of the empire until the endish
- aitchnyu 1y ago
  A city which had shared toilet sponges would be known for being stinky by lots of authors.

jrflowers 1y ago

Finally, a way to turn urine into bones. I’ve been saying “we need to find a way to turn urine into bones” for years and people told me that it couldn’t be done

v3ss0n 1y ago

So as in the the acient alchemy wisdom describe in Emerald Tablet