2018年CRI Scientists engineer mutant enzyme which eats plastics quickly

 

An international group of scientists has engineered an enzyme¹ which they say will be able to eat some of the most common plastic. It's being touted² as a possible way to fight pollution.

Improvements aimed at making the enzyme work more effectively are now underway.

CRI's Yu Yang has the story.

Scientists in Britain and the United States say they have engineered a plastic-eating enzyme that could in future help in the fight against pollution.

The enzyme is able to digest PET - a form of plastic patented in the 1940s and now used in millions of tonnes of plastic bottles.

According to the British Plastics Federation³, bottles made from PET are used to package 70% of soft drinks, fruit juices and mineral waters sold in stores.

PET plastics can persist for hundreds of years in the environment.

Professor John McGeehan from Britain's University of Portsmouth says recycling is not keeping up with the production of plastics and it's time for scientists to use all the technology available to eradicate⁴ the problem.

"From the 1950s onwards the amount of plastic we are using it's just gone exponential. It's such an incredibly useful material for packaging. But also remember for the polyesters in your clothing and carpets and all those even medical devices, plastics have transformed our world. And that's not going to change."

The scientists have re-engineered an active region of the molecule⁵, resulting in a mutant protein with an enhanced ability to attack plastic.

Professor McGeehan explains:

"What we're able to do is following on from the Japanese study is take the gene⁶ out of that bacteria and make the enzyme in the lab under control conditions. We can now generate grams of the enzyme. And in partnership⁷ with industry we should be able to generate kilograms of the enzyme. What we really need to do though is make it faster in order to make a real environmental solution. So we're quite a way off that yet, but this is a major step forward."

Professor McGeehan says the aim is to scale up the project so that it can be produced on an industrial scale.

"What we've done is we've pulled out the enzyme from that bacteria and grown it up in the lab. And now we can actually digest PET within days much quicker than in the environment. And the idea here is that we can make the enzyme faster now by understanding how it works and then we have an industrial process."

The enzyme study is published in the Proceedings⁸ of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The team says there is room to further improve the enzymes⁹, making them act much faster.

Independent scientists not directly involved with the research have said it is exciting news but cautioned that the enzyme's development as a potential solution for pollution is still at an early stage.

1 enzyme   

n.酵素，酶

参考例句：

• Above a certain temperature,the enzyme molecule will become unfolded.超过一定温度，酶分子将会展开。
• An enzyme that dissolves the fibrin of blood clots.能溶解血凝块中的纤维的酶。

2 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

4 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

5 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

6 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

7 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

8 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

9 enzymes   

n. 酶，酵素

参考例句：

• It was said that washing powders containing enzymes remove stains more efficiently. 据说加酶洗衣粉除污更有效。
• Among the enzymes which are particularly effective are pepsin, papain. 在酶当中特别有效的是胃朊酶、木瓜酶。