Oil does not just provide the fuel that powers the internal-combustion engines in cars. Its by-products are also the basis of many of the materials, such as plastics, from which cars are made. One of these petroleum by-products is isoprene. This is used to make the synthetic rubber in car tyres. About a billion tyres are made every year-each one requiring about 26 litres (or seven American gallons) of oil. Now a way has been found to make greener tyres by using genetically modified bugs to produce isoprene biologically.
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