Scientists have accidentally created a mutant enzyme that eats plastic waste
by Peter Dockrill 17 Apr 2018 19:20 PDT
Plastic Waste Enzyme © Roni Meshulam Abramovitz / iStock
They found the first ones in Japan. Hidden in the soil at a plastics recycling plant, researchers unearthed a microbe that had evolved to eat the soda bottles dominating its habitat, after you and I throw them away.
That discovery was announced in 2016, and scientists have now gone one better. While examining how the Japanese bug breaks down plastic, they accidentally created a mutant enzyme that outperforms the natural bacteria, and further tweaks could offer a vital solution to humanity's colossal plastics problem.
"Serendipity often plays a significant role in fundamental scientific research and our discovery here is no exception," says structural biologist John McGeehan from the University of Portsmouth in the UK.
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