An enzyme variant created by engineers and scientists at The University of Texas at Austin can break down environment-throttling plastics that typically take centuries to degrade in just a matter of hours to days.
This discovery, published today in Nature, could help solve one of the world’s most pressing environmental problems: what to do with the billions of tons of plastic waste piling up in landfills and polluting our natural lands and water. The enzyme has the potential to supercharge recycling on a large scale that would allow major industries to reduce their environmental impact by recovering and reusing plastics at the molecular level.
“The possibilities are endless across industries to leverage this leading-edge recycling process,” said Hal Alper, professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at UT Austin. “Beyond the obvious waste management industry, this also provides corporations from every sector the opportunity to take a lead in recycling their products. Through these more sustainable enzyme approaches, we can begin to envision a true circular plastics economy.”
The project focuses on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a significant polymer found in most consumer packaging, including cookie containers, soda bottles, fruit and salad packaging, and certain fibers and textiles. It makes up 12% of all global waste.
The enzyme was able to complete a “circular process” of breaking down the plastic into smaller parts (depolymerization) and then chemically putting it back together (repolymerization). In some cases, these plastics can be fully broken down to monomers in as little as 24 hours.
Researchers at the Cockrell School of Engineering and College of Natural Sciences used a machine learning model to generate novel mutations to a natural enzyme called PETase that allows bacteria to degrade PET plastics. The model predicts which mutations in these enzymes would accomplish the goal of quickly depolymerizing post-consumer waste plastic at low temperatures.
Through this process, which included studying 51 different post-consumer plastic containers, five different polyester fibers and fabrics and water bottles all made from PET, the researchers proved the effectiveness of the enzyme, which they are calling FAST-PETase (functional, active, stable and tolerant PETase).
“This work really demonstrates the power of bringing together different disciplines, from synthetic biology to chemical engineering to artificial intelligence,” said Andrew Ellington, professor in the Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology whose team led the development of the machine learning model.
Recycling is the most obvious way to cut down on plastic waste. But globally, less than 10% of all plastic has been recycled. The most common method for disposing of plastic, besides throwing it in a landfill, is to burn it, which is costly, energy intensive and spews noxious gas into the air. Other alternative industrial processes include very energy-intensive processes of glycolysis, pyrolysis, and/or methanolysis.
Biological solutions take much less energy. Research on enzymes for plastic recycling has advanced during the past 15 years. However, until now, no one had been able to figure out how to make enzymes that could operate efficiently at low temperatures to make them both portable and affordable at large industrial scale. FAST-PETase can perform the process at less than 50 degrees Celsius.
Up next, the team plans to work on scaling up enzyme production to prepare for industrial and environmental application. The researchers have filed a patent application for the technology and are eying several different uses. Cleaning up landfills and greening high waste-producing industries are the most obvious. But another key potential use is environmental remediation. The team is looking at a number of ways to get the enzymes out into the field to clean up polluted sites.
“When considering environmental cleanup applications, you need an enzyme that can work in the environment at ambient temperature. This requirement is where our tech has a huge advantage in the future,” Alper said.
Alper, Ellington, associate professor of chemical engineering Nathaniel Lynd and Hongyuan Lu, a postdoctoral researcher in Alper’s lab, led the research. Danny Diaz, a member of Ellington’s lab, created the machine learning model. Other team members include from chemical engineering: Natalie Czarnecki, Congzhi Zhu and Wantae Kim; and from molecular biosciences: Daniel Acosta, Brad Alexander, Hannah O. Cole, Yan Jessie Zhang and Raghav Shroff. The work was funded by ExxonMobil’s research and engineering division as part of an ongoing research agreement with UT Austin.
2,331 comments
hiếp dâm
Having read this I thought it was extremely enlightening. I appreciate you spending some time and energy to put this short article together. I once again find myself personally spending a lot of time both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!
88nn
88nn.media chơi vừa vui lại có cơ hội tăng thêm thu nhập mỗi ngày
88nn
88nn.media tỷ lệ thưởng cao, chơi thắng là tiền về ví ngay
@backlink.concac.cailon
Oh my goodness! Amazing article dude! Thanks, However I am encountering issues with your RSS. I don’t understand the reason why I cannot subscribe to it. Is there anybody else having identical RSS problems? Anybody who knows the answer will you kindly respond? Thanx!
hiếp dâm
Oh my goodness! Incredible article dude! Thank you, However I am encountering issues with your RSS. I don’t understand the reason why I cannot join it. Is there anybody else having the same RSS issues? Anybody who knows the answer will you kindly respond? Thanks.
ACB8
Săn thưởng mỗi ngày tại https://acb8xz.com với hàng loạt mini game hấp dẫn.
68 Game Bài
Aw, this was a very nice post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate a whole lot and don’t manage to get anything done.
one88
Saved as a favorite, I love your blog.
7club
It’s nearly impossible to find well-informed people for this subject, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
23win
23winn.ceo cộng đồng người chơi đông đảo, chia sẻ mẹo chơi hiệu quả
df999
gzdf999.com bảng xếp hạng giúp tăng động lực thi đua nhận thưởng
df999
gzdf999.com là nhà cái uy tín, đáng để gắn bó và giới thiệu cho bạn bè
99ok
99okk.asia đa dạng trò chơi như tài xỉu, đá gà, bắn cá, slot, thể thao
99k
99okk.info hỗ trợ đa dạng ngân hàng và ví điện tử, giao dịch thuận tiện
99k
99okk.info tổ chức nhiều sự kiện, minigame có thưởng cực kỳ hấp dẫn
Vvvwin
Bet smart and win big with https://vvvwinz.com – secure and exciting.
j88
j881.help nạp rút tiền cực nhanh, không phải chờ đợi lâu
mb66
mb66.christmas bảo trì nhanh chóng, không gây ảnh hưởng đến trải nghiệm
mb66
mb66.christmas slot dễ nổ hũ, trúng thưởng lớn thường xuyên
j88
j88h.ceo giao diện mobile thân thiện, chơi lâu cũng không bị giật lag
mb66
mb66.cam sự kiện và minigame tổ chức thường xuyên, dễ chơi dễ trúng
89bet
Howdy! I could have sworn I’ve been to this web site before but after looking at many of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back frequently.
mb66
mb66.cam có bảng xếp hạng top người chơi, tăng tính cạnh tranh hấp dẫn
how to buy tiktok coins
Greetings! Very useful advice in this particular post! It is the little changes that will make the most significant changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
Bugis chiropractor
Hi there! This post could not be written much better! Looking through this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He constantly kept preaching about this. I’ll send this post to him. Pretty sure he will have a great read. Thanks for sharing!
loto188
Tham gia loto188 để trải nghiệm lô đề online hiện đại, bảo mật cao.
Vu88
Khám phá thế giới giải trí đỉnh cao và khuyến mãi hot tại https://vu88.com.
bl555
bl555s.com cộng đồng người chơi đông đảo, chia sẻ kinh nghiệm rất tích cực
https://ww88.autos/
ww88.autos giao diện hiện đại, dễ thao tác và thân thiện với người chơi mới
CakhiaTV
cakhiatv.lifestyle nạp tiền nhanh chóng, rút tiền xử lý trong vài phút, rất tiện lợi
https://xoso66.spot/
xoso66.spot cập nhật kết quả xổ số 3 miền cực nhanh và chính xác
Cà Khịa TV
cakhiatv.uk.com app nhẹ, tải nhanh và hoạt động mượt trên cả Android & iOS
trực tiếp bóng đá cakhiatv
cakhiatv.uk.com cập nhật kèo thể thao nhanh chóng, tỷ lệ rõ ràng và minh bạch
Lototo Indonesia
Greetings, I think your web site could possibly be having internet browser compatibility issues. When I take a look at your web site in Safari, it looks fine however when opening in IE, it’s got some overlapping issues. I simply wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other than that, fantastic site!
vpn推荐
Good article! We are linking to this particularly great content on our site. Keep up the great writing.
Cái lồn to
Sự kiện khiến hàng triệu người bất ngờ
youtube to mp4
You are so cool! I do not think I have read a single thing like that before. So nice to find another person with a few original thoughts on this subject matter. Really.. thank you for starting this up. This website is something that’s needed on the internet, someone with a little originality.
F168
I’m pretty pleased to discover this page. I need to to thank you for your time just for this fantastic read!! I definitely really liked every little bit of it and I have you book marked to check out new things in your web site.
SODO
I was able to find good info from your blog articles.
cộng sản https://evernote.us.com/
evernote.us.com nên cải thiện toàn diện nếu muốn giữ người dùng
công an https://evernote.us.com/
evernote.us.com tốc độ tải trang rất chậm và lag liên tục
tỷ lệ bongdalu phishing domain
https://bongdalu7.com/ chơi lâu thấy không an tâm, thường có trục trặc
คลิปหลุดเดียร์ลอง onlyfans deerlong น้อ
I blog often and I really appreciate your content. This great article has truly peaked my interest. I will take a note of your blog and keep checking for new information about once a week. I opted in for your RSS feed too.
หลุด มิกะ
Hello there! This article couldn’t be written much better! Looking at this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He constantly kept talking about this. I am going to forward this information to him. Fairly certain he will have a great read. Thanks for sharing!
chơi kẹo là sao
moomoo.uk.com thiếu đa dạng trò chơi, dễ gây nhàm chán
link drive hot girl leak
moomoo.uk.com giao dịch qua ngân hàng hay ví điện tử thường bị từ chối
bóng cười giá rẻ
rami.uk.com hỗ trợ khách hàng phản hồi rất chậm, thiếu chuyên nghiệp
sinh viên bán dâm
rami.uk.com giao diện rối mắt, khó tìm tính năng cần dùng
bay phòng kín
jordanofficial.eu.com ít lựa chọn sản phẩm, thiếu đa dạng
fiverr
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this post plus the rest of the website is really good.