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Genetically Engineered Microorganisms for Microplastic Degradation
Summary
Scientists are engineering bacteria to produce special enzymes that break down microplastics—the tiny plastic particles found in our water, soil, and even our bodies—much faster than nature does on its own. This review summarizes how tools like CRISPR are being used to build these plastic-eating microbes, offering a promising future strategy for cleaning up pollution linked to health concerns. It's still early-stage research, though, with real questions remaining about safety before these engineered organisms could be released into the environment.
Microplastics, characterized as plastic fragments under 5 mm in length, have developed as a pervasive factor of pollution in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial zones, carrying ecological as well as health dangers because of endurance and bioindication and the threats of toxicity. Microplastic degradation by natural microbials is a natural slow and inefficient process as these are complex in their chemical makeup, are hydrophobic, and are in a crystalline state, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate. Advances in genetic engineering in recent times have allowed the development of genetically engineered microorganisms (GEMs) that can break down microplastics through overexpression or modification of a certain class of enzymes such as PETase, MHETase, cutinase, and laccase. These recombinant strains are engineered to have enhanced substrate specificity, increased catalytic capability, and enhanced tolerance to environmental stressors, increasing the rate of plastic breakdown in the natural and engineered ecosystems. In addition, tools of synthetic biology (CRISPR-Cas9, directed evolution, and gene circuit design) are increasing the repertoire of GEMs toward metabolizing monomers derived from plastics and incorporating them into the microbial metabolism for biomass production or bioconversion. This chapter describes the biology, gene strategies, and biochemistry of microplastic degradation by GEMs and provides case studies of their application for the remediation of the environment. It also touches on the issue of biosafety, containment, and ethics issues related to the release of the GEMs into open ecosystems. In summary, genetic engineering of microorganisms provides a forward-thinking, green alternative to microplastic pollution, which emerges at the nexus of microbial biotechnology, environmental science, and synthetic biology with the potential to reshape how waste is managed and environments are kept healthy.