
Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles - rapnie
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/16/scientists-accidentally-create-mutant-enzyme-that-eats-plastic-bottles
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DrScump
I'd feel better about this if they mentioned what the breakdown products are.
Statements like "plastic-eating bugs might one day be sprayed on the huge
plastic garbage patches in the oceans" reminds me of cases where nonnative
species were introduced into an environment to "solve" one problem but created
worse problems.

Also, the PNAS and DOI links in the article are bogus, and I couldn't find a
reference to this research on the PNAS website using PET/enzyme/plastic as
keywords. I did, however, find an article under the researcher's name[0] and a
related article on PET degradation from February[1].

[0] [https://phys.org/news/2018-04-plastic-eating-
enzyme.html](https://phys.org/news/2018-04-plastic-eating-enzyme.html)

[1] [https://phys.org/news/2018-02-insight-molecular-mechanism-
pe...](https://phys.org/news/2018-02-insight-molecular-mechanism-pet-
degradation.html)

~~~
yourpassword
[http://science.sciencemag.org/content/351/6278/1196](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/351/6278/1196)
> Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is used extensively worldwide in plastic
products, and its accumulation in the environment has become a global concern.
Because the ability to enzymatically degrade PET has been thought to be
limited to a few fungal species, biodegradation is not yet a viable
remediation or recycling strategy. By screening natural microbial communities
exposed to PET in the environment, we isolated a novel bacterium, Ideonella
sakaiensis 201-F6, that is able to use PET as its major energy and carbon
source. When grown on PET, this strain produces two enzymes capable of
hydrolyzing PET and the reaction intermediate, mono(2-hydroxyethyl)
terephthalic acid. Both enzymes are required to enzymatically convert PET
efficiently into its two environmentally benign monomers, terephthalic acid
and ethylene glycol.

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ohjeez
This makes me think: "Haven't any of these people seen a horror movie?"

