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Papers
20 resultsShowing papers similar to Applications of Synthetic Biology in Microbial and Enzymatic Systems for Microplastic Degradation: A Review
ClearMicrobial engineering strategies for synthetic microplastics clean up: A review on recent approaches
This review examined microbial engineering strategies for breaking down synthetic microplastics, covering PETase and MHETase enzyme engineering, immobilization approaches, and the major challenges that remain before biological plastic cleanup can be deployed at scale.
Application of PETase in Plastic Biodegradation and Its Synthesis
This review examines how PETase enzymes can be used to biodegrade plastic waste, particularly polyethylene terephthalate, which is one of the most widely used plastics globally. Researchers discuss recent advances in modifying PETase enzymes for improved efficiency and establishing sustainable synthesis platforms. The study suggests that enzymatic biodegradation offers a promising biological solution to the growing plastic pollution crisis.
Recent advances in enzyme engineering for improved deconstruction of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) plastics
This review covers recent progress in engineering enzymes that can break down PET plastic, the material used in water bottles and food containers. While natural enzymes that digest PET have been discovered, they are not yet fast or durable enough for industrial-scale recycling. Advances in protein engineering, directed evolution, and computational design are steadily improving these enzymes, which could eventually provide a sustainable way to recycle PET and reduce microplastic pollution at its source.
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.
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.
Engineered polyethylene terephthalate hydrolases: perspectives and limits
This review examines progress in engineering enzymes that can break down PET plastic, the material used in most beverage bottles and synthetic textiles. Researchers found that while significant advances have been made through protein engineering and machine learning, no enzyme yet exists that can efficiently degrade the crystalline form of PET found in real-world waste. The study outlines the key challenges remaining before enzymatic plastic recycling can work at industrial scale, including handling microplastic contamination.
Eco-Microbiology: Discovering Biochemical Enhancers of PET Biodegradation by Piscinibacter sakaiensis
This paper reviews biochemical strategies for enhancing PET biodegradation by microorganisms, focusing on the discovery and engineering of plastic-degrading enzymes. The review highlights recent advances and remaining challenges in scaling up enzymatic plastic degradation for industrial applications.
Microbial and Enzymatic Degradation of Plastic Waste in Water
This review surveys microbial and enzymatic pathways for degrading plastic waste in water, cataloging enzymes such as PETases and cutinases along with the microorganisms that produce them. The authors assess current limitations of biological degradation rates and discuss how enzyme engineering and synthetic microbial consortia could accelerate plastic breakdown.
Advancing PET-Degrading Enzymes through Directed Evolution to Combat Plastic Pollution
This review examines advances in directed evolution of PET-degrading enzymes including PETases and cutinases, describing how techniques such as error-prone PCR, DNA shuffling, and saturation mutagenesis have produced enzyme variants with improved catalytic efficiency and thermostability for enzymatic plastic recycling applications.
Biodegradation of Microplastic: A Sustainable Approach
This review examines biological approaches to microplastic degradation, covering microorganisms and enzymes capable of breaking down common plastic polymers such as PET and polyethylene. Biodegradation could offer a sustainable path to reducing microplastic accumulation in soil, water, and marine environments.
Genetic Enhancement of Plastic Degrading Bacteria: The Way to a Sustainable and Healthy Environment
Researchers review how genetic engineering of plastic-degrading bacteria could accelerate the biological breakdown of plastic waste, highlighting promising enzymes and metabolic pathways. Engineering microbes with enhanced plastic-digesting capabilities could become an important tool for reducing the global accumulation of microplastics in the environment.
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.
An Overview into Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Hydrolases and Efforts in Tailoring Enzymes for Improved Plastic Degradation
This review examines the discovery and engineering of PET-degrading enzymes including PETase and cutinase variants, discussing protein engineering strategies to improve catalytic efficiency and thermostability for practical biodegradation of polyethylene terephthalate plastic waste.
Nature-Inspired Strategies for Sustainable Degradation of Synthetic Plastics
This review examines nature-inspired biological strategies for breaking down synthetic plastics, including enzyme engineering and microbial approaches. The study suggests that mimicking natural degradation processes could overcome the chemical and physical barriers that make plastics resistant to breakdown, offering a path toward more sustainable plastic waste management.
Enhancing PET Degrading Enzymes: A Combinatory Approach
Scientists worked on improving enzymes that can break down PET plastic, one of the most common plastics in consumer products. Using a combinatory approach, researchers enhanced the performance of a naturally occurring PET-degrading enzyme from the bacterium Piscinibacter sakaiensis. The study suggests that engineered enzymes could eventually help create a circular economy for plastic waste by enabling efficient recycling at the molecular level.
Enzymatic PET Degradation
This review examines enzymatic degradation of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), the plastic used in bottles and polyester clothing, as a promising pathway for breaking down this persistent polymer. Advances in engineering more efficient PET-degrading enzymes could enable industrial-scale biological recycling and reduce the environmental accumulation of PET microplastics.
A review on microbial bioremediation of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics
This review focuses on microbial biodegradation of PET microplastics — the plastic used in bottles and synthetic textiles — detailing the specific enzymes (PETase and MHETase) that bacteria use to break the polymer down into its chemical building blocks. Biological degradation offers a lower-energy, more environmentally gentle alternative to chemical recycling or landfill, and understanding the microbial mechanisms involved is key to developing scalable bioremediation solutions for one of the most pervasive microplastic types.
Cutting-edge developments in plastic biodegradation and upcycling via engineering approaches
This review examines how engineering approaches from synthetic biology and metabolic engineering can improve both the breakdown and upcycling of plastic waste. Researchers found that various microorganisms and their enzymes can degrade plastics and convert the resulting monomers into valuable products like biosurfactants, bioplastics, and biochemicals. The study suggests that optimizing microbial pathways and using hybrid chemo-biological approaches could help build a more sustainable circular plastic economy.
Microbial Degradation of (Micro)plastics: Mechanisms, Enhancements, and Future Directions
This review examines how microorganisms can break down microplastics using enzymes like PETase and laccases, offering a more environmentally friendly alternative to other cleanup methods. While microbial degradation holds promise for reducing microplastic pollution and its associated health risks, current efficiency is too low for large-scale application and needs further improvement.
An efficient strategy to tailor PET hydrolase: Simple preparation with high yield and enhanced hydrolysis to micro-nano plastics
This study developed a simplified, high-yield preparation method for PET-degrading hydrolase enzymes to improve their ability to break down PET nano- and microplastics. The engineered enzyme showed enhanced hydrolysis activity against PET microplastics, offering a more practical route to enzymatic plastic waste treatment.