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Newly discovered deep-sea enzyme breaks down PET plastic

phys.org

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Re: Newly discovered deep-sea enzyme breaks down PET plastic

#71

Post by Kerb_ »

coffeebeqn wrote: post #69
Kerb_ wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It breaks them down into their atomic components and enables bacteria that can straight up digest plastic. The issue from this is that we rely on plastics not being degradable for a lot of the properties we use it for. Imagine if bugs got this enzyme in their gut bacteria, and started eating the food wrappers instead of just nibbling through them. Plastic used to seal sterile equipment in medical settings or for impl…

It would still be difficult for bugs to gnaw on solid plastic

It's difficult for bugs to gnaw on solid wood, too. Termites still cause billions in damages a year.

Re: Newly discovered deep-sea enzyme breaks down PET plastic

#72

Post by Tagbert »

Max-q wrote: post #30

As much plastic as we dump into nature now, we increase the chance for a mutation of a microbe being able to digest it. If that microbe manage to multiply and spread, plastic can start to rot, just like wood is doing now. On a long term basis, that might be a good thing, but in the short term it would be a catastrophy. We are using plastic as a long lasting material, often with no surface treatment. Imagine if wire i…

Wood doesn’t spontaneously rot at a rate that is problematic. This new enzyme requires temperatures of around 70C to operate. Any microbe that does evolve to eat plastic will probably need some specific living conditions. They are unlikely to be so efficient and universal that we see plastic rotting while we are using it.

Re: Newly discovered deep-sea enzyme breaks down PET plastic

#73

Post by Tagbert »

Kerb_ wrote: post #71
coffeebeqn wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would still be difficult for bugs to gnaw on solid plastic

It's difficult for bugs to gnaw on solid wood, too. Termites still cause billions in damages a year.

And they took millions of years to evolve and depend on microbes living in their gut to digest the wood. They have to keep those microbes in a protected environment to allow them do do the digestion. They aren’t just digesting wood out in the open.

Re: Newly discovered deep-sea enzyme breaks down PET plastic

#74

Post by Kerb_ »

Tagbert wrote: post #73
Kerb_ wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's difficult for bugs to gnaw on solid wood, too. Termites still cause billions in damages a year.

And they took millions of years to evolve and depend on microbes living in their gut to digest the wood. They have to keep those microbes in a protected environment to allow them do do the digestion. They aren’t just digesting wood out in the open.

I can follow these goalposts. They're already in gut microbiomes.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29763555/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32374590/

Re: Newly discovered deep-sea enzyme breaks down PET plastic

#75

Post by parineum »

gruez wrote: post #46
ZeWaka wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We actually do a fair amount of this in the US. Marion County in Oregon burns 90% of their trash. It's much better than landfills, anyways.

How is burning better than landfilling it? If the landfill is lined the garbage isn't going anywhere, and leaving the plastic in the ground is much better than releasing its co2 into the atmosphere. Land use might be an issue in some places, but I doubt that's the case in Oregon.

> Land use might be an issue in some places

It really isn't the land that's the problem, there is absolutely plenty of land to support the entire earth's population of trash in landfills. Just like with food, the problem is moving it to the places you want it to be.

Re: Newly discovered deep-sea enzyme breaks down PET plastic

#77

Post by andresgottlieb »

testfoobar wrote: post #64
gilleain wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apologies, that was meant for the specialists :) It is mostly just technical jargon so do not feel too humble ... So I'll break it down: - "feruloyl esterase" : an 'esterase' is an enzyme that makes or breaks ester bonds. In this case, 'feruloyl' which I've never heard of but apparently is some small molecule that is normally attached to a sugar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feruloyl_esterase - "conserved alpha/beta…

Thank you.

I've been using ChatGPT4 for this situtations, with excellent results. Check out this conversation about it (I used a PDF reader plugin, also): https://chat.openai.com/share/a682c5a7-f2c5-4849-a999-5a7218...

Re: Newly discovered deep-sea enzyme breaks down PET plastic

#78

Post by kardos »

hinkley wrote: post #42
pneumic wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's not bad news at all but it appears to be one of many that still require considerable heat, industrial infra, etc. Has anyone attempted to put these enzymes to the test in at some scale in an industrial setting, I wonder?

I mean my processor hits 70° and has for a decade or more, and my car engine thinks 87° is the happy temperature. 70° is maybe a little out of the reach of a home system but nothing for a municipal system. Right?

A hot water tank is not far from 70C
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