Jul 22, 2026 – 5.00amVanessa Vongsouthi began her PhD at the Australian National University out of academic curiosity. Could her knowledge of protein engineering be used to make enzymes that would degrade plastic?At the same time, venture capitalist Paul Riley had spent the best part of nine months, backed by venture capital fund Main Sequence Ventures and supermarket giant Woolworths, searching for a genuine solution to the plastic waste crisis.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Tess BennettTechnology reporterTess Bennett was a technology reporter at The Australian Financial Review.Fetching latest articles