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Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles
This could end badly.We seen dis movie. [Guardian] Scientists have created a mutant enzyme that breaks down plastic drinks bottles ‐ by accident. The breakthrough could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis by enabling for the first time the full recycling of bottles. The new research was spurred by the discovery in 2016 of the first bacterium that had naturally evolved to eat plastic, at a waste dump in Japan. Scientists have now revealed the detailed structure of the crucial enzyme produced by the bug. The international team then tweaked the enzyme to see how it had evolved, but tests showed they had inadvertently made the molecule even better at breaking down the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic used for soft drink bottles. Posted by: Alistaire Untervehr8459 2018-04-17 |
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