Researchers from The University of Edinburgh and AstraZeneca UK, have formulated a means of genetically engineering the E.coli metabolic pathway to produce paracetamol as a useful end product.
This was enabled by the discovery of an internal synthetic reaction called the Lossen rearrangement, which with small modifications could produce acyl hydroxamate esters such as acetaminophen(paracetamol) from PET(polyethylene terepthalate i.e. plastic) catalyzed by the addition of phosphate.