The central thesis is that researchers led by Yangchao Luo developed a sustainable method to recover chitin from seafood waste. Luo's group initiated this research in response to industry demand for waste management solutions.

Chitin is abundant and versatile, used in products like food packaging, fertilizer, and cosmetics. Traditional chitin extraction methods involve heavy pollution due to using strong acids and bases, and there are no U.S. facilities for this processing.

The new approach focuses on using naturally derived chemicals, specifically malic acid, for extraction.