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Biologics in synergy to degrade target micropollutants
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This review describes how biological agents—bacteria, fungi, and engineered enzymes—can be combined to break down a range of environmental pollutants, including microplastics, chlorinated solvents, and pharmaceuticals. The emphasis on enzyme discovery and microbial consortia points toward scalable, low-emission alternatives to incineration or chemical treatment for tackling complex pollution mixtures.
Environmental pollution caused by thousands of ecotoxic chemicals poses a major global challenge. Traditional removal methods such as incineration generate significant CO₂ emissions, while chemical treatments are widely used but limited. Biological degradation has emerged as a sustainable alternative for pollutant removal and recycling.Novel enzyme discovery and engineering are central to advancing bioremediation strategies.Different environments, including industrial, agricultural, and aquatic systems, present distinct contamination profiles.Key pollutants include hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, microplastics, and pharmaceuticals.Recent advances enable the identification of degradation pathways from genomes and metagenomes.These approaches support ecosystem restoration, biodiversity protection, and a zero-pollution future.
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Biologics in synergy to degrade target micropollutants
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This review describes how biological agents—bacteria, fungi, and engineered enzymes—can be combined to break down a range of environmental pollutants, including microplastics, chlorinated solvents, and pharmaceuticals. The emphasis on enzyme discovery and microbial consortia points toward scalable, low-emission alternatives to incineration or chemical treatment for tackling complex pollution mixtures.
Harnessing Microorganisms for Microplastic Degradation: A Sustainable Approach to Mitigating Environmental Pollution
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This review surveys microorganisms—bacteria, fungi, and other taxa—capable of degrading microplastics, examining the enzymes, metabolic pathways, and environmental conditions involved, and assessing the practical potential of harnessing these organisms for bioremediation of plastic pollution.
Role of Novel Biological Agents in Plastic Degradation and Mitigation Approach towards Bioplastics
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This review examines the role of novel biological agents — including bacteria, fungi, and engineered microorganisms — in degrading synthetic plastics and proposes bioplastics as a mitigation strategy to reduce persistent polymer accumulation in the environment. The authors outline the enzymatic mechanisms involved in breaking down major plastic types and discuss the potential of combining biological degradation with bioplastic adoption.
Recent advances in biodegradation of emerging contaminants - microplastics (MPs): Feasibility, mechanism, and future prospects
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This review explores biological approaches to breaking down microplastics, including using bacteria, fungi, and enzymes. While some organisms can partially degrade certain plastic types, the process is slow and incomplete compared to the scale of pollution. The research is promising for future cleanup efforts but shows that biodegradation alone cannot yet solve the microplastic contamination problem.
A concept for the biotechnological minimizing of emerging plastics, micro- and nano-plastics pollutants from the environment: A review.
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This review examined biotechnological strategies for remediating plastics, micro-, and nano-plastics from the environment, cataloguing microbial and enzymatic degradation approaches, discussing their mechanistic basis, and proposing an integrated biotechnology framework for minimizing plastic pollution across terrestrial and aquatic systems.
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