WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Could a Plastic-Eating Enzyme Help Save the Planet?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hi

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, I'm more in vogel bomb in. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>is another classic from our archives. It's about the discovery

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<v Speaker 1>in of bacteria that can eat certain types of plastic

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<v Speaker 1>and thus break it down, giving us hope that we

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<v Speaker 1>may one day be able to make a dent in

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<v Speaker 1>humanity's plastic waste. These bacteria are still being researched. Scientists say,

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<v Speaker 1>we're unfortunately still years away from being to put this

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<v Speaker 1>discovery into practical use, but it's still a fascinating discovery. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren vogel Bomb Here. One of the amazing

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<v Speaker 1>things about our universe is that nothing really goes to waste.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, you the incredible master work that you are

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<v Speaker 1>happened to be composed of the trash that exploded out

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<v Speaker 1>of a supernova. In every nook and cranny of the cosmos,

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<v Speaker 1>the universe is reorganizing and reusing. It is the great

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<v Speaker 1>resaw cycler. Our planet recycles everything, water, carbon, nutrients of

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<v Speaker 1>all kinds, So it stands to reason that we'd be

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<v Speaker 1>really good at recycling stuff here on Earth. But we

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<v Speaker 1>humans are only so so recyclers take plastic. We do

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<v Speaker 1>a great job of digging up ancient deposits of carbon

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<v Speaker 1>in order to make the stuff, which is recycling sort of.

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<v Speaker 1>But since the nineteen forties, we've manufactured mind boggling amounts

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<v Speaker 1>of a material that will likely hang out in the

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<v Speaker 1>environment for centuries, killing wildlife and leaching toxic chemicals. Only

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<v Speaker 1>about ten percent of that is ever recycled. But in

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<v Speaker 1>a Japanese research team discovered bacteria making some inroads into

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<v Speaker 1>plastics recycling where we humans were failing. Poly Ethylene tarithalate,

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<v Speaker 1>or PET plastics are everywhere, most notably in plastic soda

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<v Speaker 1>and water bottles, and the bonds that hold its molecules

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<v Speaker 1>together are very strong. So it was something of a

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<v Speaker 1>surprise when a colony of these bacteria were discovered in

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<v Speaker 1>a Japanese landfill. But what's their secret? In a issue

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<v Speaker 1>of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,

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<v Speaker 1>an international group of researchers reported on the pet busting

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<v Speaker 1>enzyme produced by these bacteria. Not only did they map

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<v Speaker 1>the structure of the enzyme, but in the process of

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<v Speaker 1>studying and tinkering with it, they also made it faster.

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<v Speaker 1>Turns out it was all a bit of an accident.

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<v Speaker 1>Lead author Greg Beckham, senior engineer at the National Renewable

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<v Speaker 1>Energy Laboratory, said in a press release. We hoped to

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<v Speaker 1>determine its structure to aid in protein engineering, but we

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<v Speaker 1>ended up going a step further and accidentally engineered an

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<v Speaker 1>enzyme with improved performance at breaking down these plastics. What

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<v Speaker 1>we've learned is that p E t A s is

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<v Speaker 1>not yet fully optimized to degrade PET, and now that

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<v Speaker 1>we've shown this, it's time to apply the tools of

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<v Speaker 1>protein engineering and evolution to continue to improve it. The

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<v Speaker 1>goal of this research is to find a way to

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<v Speaker 1>create an enzyme that works fast and to break down

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<v Speaker 1>huge amounts of pet plastic into its component parts so

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<v Speaker 1>it can be turned back into plastic bottles. One possible

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<v Speaker 1>solution is to plant this mutant enzyme into bacteria that

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<v Speaker 1>can withstand insanely high temperatures, which might break the plastic

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<v Speaker 1>down ten to a hundred times quicker, or whatever it takes. Y'all,

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<v Speaker 1>we humans buy one million plastic bottles every minute. Reduce

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<v Speaker 1>and recycle your plastic waste. But it also can't hurt

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<v Speaker 1>to keep your fingers crossed for these bacteria to work

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<v Speaker 1>out Today's episode is based on the article plastic eating enzyme,

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe our Planet's New Hope on how stuff works dot Com.

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<v Speaker 1>Written by Dslin Shields. Brain Stuffs production of I Heart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio in partnership with stuff works dot Com and it's

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Clay. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.