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Development of a yeast whole-cell biocatalyst for MHET conversion into terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol
Summary
Researchers engineered baker's yeast to display plastic-degrading enzymes on its cell surface, demonstrating a simpler and potentially cheaper approach to breaking down PET plastic — the material used in bottles — without requiring the costly step of purifying the enzymes first.
We demonstrate the feasibility of using S. cerevisiae as a platform for the expression and surface display of PET degrading enzymes and predict that the whole-cell catalyst will be a viable alternative to protein purification-based approaches for plastic degradation.
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