Global InformationJohn McGeehan information
John McGeehan is a British research scientist and professor of structural biology. He was director of the Centre for Enzyme Innovation (CEI) at the University of Portsmouth until 2022 and led a research team on enzyme engineering.
In 2018, McGeehan co-led an international team of scientists who characterized and engineered an enzyme with the ability to breakdown crystalline polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the primary material used in the manufacture of single-use plastic bottles, in some clothing, and in carpets.[1][2][3] The bacteria that produces this enzyme, Ideonella sakaiensis, was originally discovered and isolated in a recycling plant by a Japanese research group in 2016.[4][5]
The team at Portsmouth University, together with researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of South Florida, solved the high-resolution structure of the PETase enzyme using X-ray crystallography at the Diamond Light Source.[6] The team used the structure to design an improved version of the enzyme, making it more efficient, and raising the possibility of further efficiency gains.[7][8][9] They demonstrated that it can also break down polyethylenefuranoate (PEF), a potential plant-based PET replacement.
Plastics such as PET, while incredibly versatile, are resistant to natural breakdown and are now an increasing source of pollution in the environment.[10] The research team aims to develop improved enzymes to breakdown plastics into their original building blocks so they can be reused as part of a circular plastics economy.[7]
The initial research story was covered widely in the press in 2018 (The Times,[11] The Guardian,[12] and The Economist[13]), television media (BBC,[14] ITV,[15] CNN,[16] CBS,[17] Al Jazeera,[18] and HBO[19]), and by funding organisations, including the BBSRC[20] and UKRI.[21]
The team has continued to make further improvements to enzymes that can break down plastics through the characterisation of natural bacterial systems followed by laboratory protein engineering.[22] Their latest work employs the use of AlphaFold through a collaboration with DeepMind (video) to uncover the 3D structures of alternative PETase enzymes.
- ^ Austin, Harry P.; Allen, Mark D.; Donohoe, Bryon S.; Rorrer, Nicholas A.; Kearns, Fiona L.; Silveira, Rodrigo L.; Pollard, Benjamin C.; Dominick, Graham; Duman, Ramona (2018-05-08). "Characterization and engineering of a plastic-degrading aromatic polyesterase". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (19): E4350–E4357. doi:10.1073/pnas.1718804115. PMC 5948967. PMID 29666242.
- ^ Portsmouth, University of (March 21, 2022). "New enzyme discovery is another leap towards beating plastic waste". phys.org.
- ^ Ringle, Erik F. (Dec 21, 2022). "Scientists Discover Enzymes That Could Make It Cheaper To Recycle Waste Polyester Textiles and Bottles Than Making Them From Petroleum". National Renewable Energy Laboratory. U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
- ^ Yoshida, Shosuke; Hiraga, Kazumi; Takehana, Toshihiko; Taniguchi, Ikuo; Yamaji, Hironao; Maeda, Yasuhito; Toyohara, Kiyotsuna; Miyamoto, Kenji; Kimura, Yoshiharu (2016-03-11). "A bacterium that degrades and assimilates poly(ethylene terephthalate)". Science. 351 (6278): 1196–1199. Bibcode:2016Sci...351.1196Y. doi:10.1126/science.aad6359. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 26965627. S2CID 31146235.
- ^ Ong, Sandy (24 August 2023). "The living things that feast on plastic". Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews. doi:10.1146/knowable-082423-1.
- ^ Austin, H.P.; Allen, M.D.; Johnson, C.W.; Beckham, G.T.; McGeehan, J.E. (2018-04-25). "High resolution crystal structure of a polyethylene terephthalate degrading hydrolase from Ideonella sakaiensis". www.rcsb.org. doi:10.2210/pdb6eqe/pdb. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ a b Carrington, Damian (16 April 2018). "Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles". the Guardian. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
- ^ Kelland, Kate; McDill, Stuart; Jones, Gareth (16 April 2018). "Plastic-eating enzyme holds promise in fighting pollution". Reuters.
- ^ Marshall, Michael (5 February 2022). "How 'super-enzymes' that eat plastics could curb our waste problem". The Observer.
- ^ Jambeck, Jenna R.; Geyer, Roland; Wilcox, Chris; Siegler, Theodore R.; Perryman, Miriam; Andrady, Anthony; Narayan, Ramani; Law, Kara Lavender (2015-02-13). "Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean". Science. 347 (6223): 768–771. Bibcode:2015Sci...347..768J. doi:10.1126/science.1260352. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 25678662. S2CID 206562155.
- ^ Whipple, Tom; Webster, Ben (2018-04-17). "Plastic-eating enzyme hailed as breakthrough in recycling". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ Carrington, Damian (2018-04-16). "Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "An enzyme that digests plastic could boost recycling". The Economist. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "Recycling hope for plastic-hungry enzyme". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "An accidental global warming solution? Enzymes that could break down plastic". ITV News. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ Wilkinson, Bard. "Scientists hope new enzyme will 'eat' plastic pollution". CNN. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "Could a tiny enzyme eradicate plastic garbage plaguing the world's oceans?". Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "Scientists test plastic-eating enzyme in bid to fight pollution". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "Scientists accidentally discovered a plastic-eating enzyme that could revolutionize recycling". VICE News. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "16 April 2018 - Engineering a plastic-eating enzyme - BBSRC". bbsrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "Engineering a plastic-eating enzyme - UK Research and Innovation". www.ukri.org. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ Knott, Brandon C.; Erickson, Erika; Allen, Mark D.; Gado, Japheth E.; Graham, Rosie; Kearns, Fiona L.; Pardo, Isabel; Topuzlu, Ece; Anderson, Jared J.; Austin, Harry P.; Dominick, Graham (2020-09-24). "Characterization and engineering of a two-enzyme system for plastics depolymerization". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (41): 25476–25485. doi:10.1073/pnas.2006753117. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 7568301. PMID 32989159.