Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Genetic engineering approach to address microplastic environmental pollution: a review

This review explores how genetic engineering approaches could enhance the ability of microorganisms to biodegrade microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment. Researchers highlight that while wild-type microbes struggle to break down plastics due to their high molecular weight and crystallinity, engineered enzymes and organisms show potential for more effective plastic pollution remediation.

2023 Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent Advancements and Mechanism of Plastics Biodegradation Promoted by Bacteria: A Key for Sustainable Remediation for Plastic Wastes

This review highlights recent discoveries of microbial enzymes capable of degrading various plastics, discussing bacterial biodegradation mechanisms as a sustainable remediation strategy for addressing accumulating plastic waste in landfills and water bodies.

2023 Biosciences Biotechnology Research Asia 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Accumulation and Degradation in Environment via Biotechnological Approaches

This review examines how biotechnological approaches, including genetic engineering, genome editing, and synthetic biology, can enhance microbial degradation of plastics. Researchers found that while microplastics and nanoplastics are now found throughout the environment and even in food and the human body, improved methods for plastic biodegradation could help reduce their production. The study highlights the potential of engineered microorganisms as a strategy for addressing plastic waste accumulation.

2022 Water 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic waste impact and biotechnology: Exploring polymer degradation, microbial role, and sustainable development implications

Researchers reviewed how microorganisms and their enzymes can break down different types of plastic waste through both aerobic (oxygen-using) and anaerobic (oxygen-free) pathways. The review highlights biotechnological tools like genetic modification that could accelerate plastic biodegradation, supporting a shift toward a circular economy.

2023 Bioresource Technology Reports 86 citations
Article Tier 2

Engineered plastic-associated bacteria for biodegradation and bioremediation

This review examines how bacteria naturally found on plastic surfaces can be engineered to more efficiently break down and recycle plastic waste. Researchers summarized advances in using genetic engineering to enhance microbial plastic degradation and connect it to pathways that convert plastic into useful products. The study highlights the potential for biotechnology to address the plastic waste crisis while supporting a circular economy.

2024 Biotechnology for the Environment 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial plastic degradation: enzymes, pathways, challenges, and perspectives.

This review synthesizes current knowledge on microbial plastic degradation, covering the enzymes and metabolic pathways involved in breaking down major synthetic polymers, the challenges limiting efficient biodegradation, and perspectives for engineering improved microbial solutions to plastic waste.

2025 Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR
Article Tier 2

Harnessing Microorganisms for Microplastic Degradation: A Sustainable Approach to Mitigating Environmental Pollution

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.

2025 NIPES Journal of Science and Technology Research
Article Tier 2

Insights into Microbial Enzymatic Biodegradation of Plastics and Microplastics: Technological Updates

This review covers the latest advances in using microbial enzymes and biotechnology to break down plastic and microplastic waste. While some bacteria and fungi can partially degrade certain plastics, the process is slow and limited by factors like the plastic's chemical structure and crystallinity. The research points toward genetic engineering and genome editing as potential tools to speed up plastic degradation, though practical large-scale solutions are still in development.

2025 ACS Environmental Au 5 citations
Review Tier 2

The plastic and microplastic waste menace and bacterial biodegradation for sustainable environmental clean-up a review

This review examined bacterial biodegradation of plastic and microplastic waste, covering key microbial species, enzymatic mechanisms, and biotechnological approaches being developed for sustainable environmental cleanup of plastic pollution.

2023 Environmental Research 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Biological Degradation of Plastics and Microplastics: A Recent Perspective on Associated Mechanisms and Influencing Factors

This review looks at how bacteria and their enzymes can break down different types of plastics and microplastics through biological processes. Understanding these natural degradation pathways is important because they could be harnessed to reduce the amount of persistent microplastic pollution that accumulates in the environment and eventually enters the human food chain.

2023 Microorganisms 320 citations
Article Tier 2

Biotechnological Potential for Microplastic Waste

This article reviews how biotechnology — including engineered microbes and enzymes — can be used to break down microplastic waste. As conventional plastic recycling falls short, biological approaches offer a promising complement to reduce the accumulation of microplastics in the environment.

2020 Trends in biotechnology 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial engineering for sustainable microplastic biodegradation: from enzyme redesign to synthetic consortia

This review examined advances in microbial and enzymatic engineering for biodegrading microplastics, covering genome-editing strategies, enzyme redesign, and synthetic microbial consortia. The authors found that engineered microorganisms can break down common plastic polymers into recyclable monomers more efficiently than wild-type strains, but scaling these systems to environmental remediation remains a major challenge.

2025 International Microbiology
Article Tier 2

Recent trends in microbial and enzymatic plastic degradation: a solution for plastic pollution predicaments

This review covers recent advances in using microorganisms and their enzymes to break down plastics including polyethylene, PVC, polystyrene, and PET, with techniques like protein engineering being used to boost enzyme efficiency. Microbial degradation offers a sustainable approach to reducing the persistent plastic pollution that generates the microplastics found throughout the environment and human body.

2024 Biotechnology for Sustainable Materials 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Evidence of Plastic Degrading Bacteria in Aquatic Environment

This review examines evidence for plastic-degrading bacteria in aquatic environments, summarizing identified microorganisms and their enzymatic mechanisms capable of breaking down plastic materials, and discussing the potential application of these organisms in bioremediation of plastic pollution.

2022 Journal of Biological and Allied Health Sciences
Article Tier 2

Enzymes to make plastics disappear

This review article discusses the problem of plastic waste accumulating in the environment, including the formation of microplastics, and explores the potential of engineered enzymes to break down synthetic polymers as a biological solution to plastic pollution.

2024 C&EN Global Enterprise
Article Tier 2

A minireview on the bioremediative potential of microbial enzymes as solution to emerging microplastic pollution

This mini review explores the potential of microbial enzymes as a sustainable solution for degrading microplastics, discussing recent advances in identifying plastic-degrading enzymes and the challenges remaining for practical bioremediation applications.

2023 Frontiers in Microbiology 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization and Optimization of Biocatalysts for New Recycling Technologies

Researchers investigated the characterisation and optimisation of enzymatic biocatalysts capable of degrading synthetic plastics, addressing the limitations of conventional mechanical recycling that has proven largely ineffective at curbing plastic and microplastic accumulation in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The work explores how enzyme engineering and directed evolution can improve the efficiency of biological plastic breakdown as a pathway toward circular plastic recycling.

2024 Inquiry Queen s Undergraduate Research Conference Proceedings
Article Tier 2

Microbial strategies for effective microplastics biodegradation: Insights and innovations in environmental remediation

This review explores how bacteria and their enzymes can break down microplastics through oxidative degradation, offering a biological approach to cleaning up plastic pollution. The paper highlights innovative pretreatment methods that make plastics more accessible to microbial breakdown and positions microbial strategies as a promising frontline solution for removing microplastics from ecosystems before they can enter the food chain and affect human health.

2024 Environmental Research 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of Various Microbes and Their Enzymatic Mechanisms for Biodegradation of Microplastics

This review examines the microbial enzymes and degradation mechanisms responsible for biodegrading microplastic polymers, covering bacterial, fungal, and algal systems that have evolved plastic-degrading capabilities over the past 150 years of plastic production. The authors survey the most promising enzymatic pathways and organisms for biotechnological application in microplastic remediation.

2024
Article Tier 2

Enhancement of environmental microplastics (MPs) degradation via bacteria under stress conditions: key enzymes, pathways, and mechanisms

This review focuses on bacterial, enzymatic, and insect-mediated strategies for microplastic biodegradation, evaluating the effectiveness of multi-organism approaches that combine different degrading agents to enhance the breakdown rate of persistent plastic polymers in the environment.

2025 World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 2 citations