Why plastic-eating microbes are not the solution

Recently, Japanese scientists have discovered an enzyme (PETase), isolated from the bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis that can degrade polyethylene terephthalate PET in only a few weeks, exibiting the rare ability to use PET as the major carbon and energy source to grow. PET is a major form of synthetic plastic which for example plastic bottles are made of. Compared to the decades PET takes to breakdown normally, this enzyme is working wonders. Analysis of the enzymes 3D structure revealed a similar structure to cutinase, but with a modified active site to accomodate synthetic polymers. This suggests that the PETase enzyme may have evolved naturally in a PET-rich environment, revealing how nature is evolving to adapt to the rapidly changing environment. This 3D structure gave the scientists the information they needed to genetically modify the enzyme further, altering the shape of the active site to produce an even more efficient PETase mutant. <a href="https://medium.com/@amykwilson/why-plastic-eating-microbes-are-not-the-solution-fe4e88e7e4c2">Website</a>