Scientists from the USA and the United Kingdom accidentally made a modification for an enzyme that would be responsible for digesting the plastic. These scientists were studying a bacterium called "Ideonella Sakaiensis", which was discovered in Japan in 2016 which had the purpose of consuming plastic; that is, he fed on this waste.
The objective of their research was to understand how one of their enzymes called "PETase" worked and through this they understand and study its structure. Then the "error" happened, without thinking they designed an enzyme that ended up being much faster in the digestion of the plastic type: polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with which millions of plastic bottles are manufactured in the world.
The crisis of plastic on the planet
For anyone it is a secret that every day tons and tons of plastic accumulate, which mostly ends up being dragged to the world's oceans, this enzyme is a hope to be able to process a part of the plastic that we are generating, since it takes a few days to start the decomposition processes.
Recycle efficiently
Endless polyethylene accumulate on our planet earth, all these are produced from oil, through plastic bottles and even the textile industry. A couple of days ago I talked about the islands of garbage in a post and it is quite worrying the volume they have and they are growing more and more every day. Today it is estimated that the island trash of the Pacific has three times the size of France.
Nowadays, plastic recycling is often not as efficient, since the quality of the material is lost every time the cycle is started. Normally these bottles are transformed into strands which end up transforming into fabrics that eventually culminate in landfills or what we fear the most: THE OCEAN.
What does this enzyme really do?
The great thing about this enzyme is that recycling will not be the same again, the material that normally loses its quality to be recycled again and again will be part of the past, because this enzyme is able to revert the process of reused plastic to a original state, that is, as if it were new plastic, ready to be used again, is not it great? Not all bad news, from time to time science surprises us; and at the same time makes us come to our senses due to the exhaustive search to improve the planet that we have destroyed, the beginning of a new era, one in which we include ourselves more in the protection of the environment and do not leave the burden alone Some interested, because this planet is where we all live, not just a few, it is time to become aware from the homes and echo all important information that helps the planet.
