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    Bio - Act 1

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    BREANNE MARGARETHE ALBEZA LUCA�AS
    Researchers genetically engineered a marine bacteria, Vibrio natriegens, to produce enzymes from Ideonella sakaiensis that allow it to break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic in saltwater. They introduced the genetic sequence for the enzymes into V. natriegens using a plasmid. This is the first time V. natriegens has been engineered to express foreign enzymes on its cell surface and the first organism shown to break down microplastics in saltwater, addressing a major source of ocean plastic pollution. Additional work is still needed but overcoming degradation in saltwater was a significant challenge overcome.

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    Bio - Act 1

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    BREANNE MARGARETHE ALBEZA LUCA�AS
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    Researchers genetically engineered a marine bacteria, Vibrio natriegens, to produce enzymes from Ideonella sakaiensis that allow it to break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic in saltwater. They introduced the genetic sequence for the enzymes into V. natriegens using a plasmid. This is the first time V. natriegens has been engineered to express foreign enzymes on its cell surface and the first organism shown to break down microplastics in saltwater, addressing a major source of ocean plastic pollution. Additional work is still needed but overcoming degradation in saltwater was a significant challenge overcome.

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    Researchers genetically engineered a marine bacteria, Vibrio natriegens, to produce enzymes from Ideonella sakaiensis that allow it to break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic in saltwater. They introduced the genetic sequence for the enzymes into V. natriegens using a plasmid. This is the first time V. natriegens has been engineered to express foreign enzymes on its cell surface and the first organism shown to break down microplastics in saltwater, addressing a major source of ocean plastic pollution. Additional work is still needed but overcoming degradation in saltwater was a significant challenge overcome.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    3 views2 pages

    Bio - Act 1

    Uploaded by

    BREANNE MARGARETHE ALBEZA LUCA�AS
    Researchers genetically engineered a marine bacteria, Vibrio natriegens, to produce enzymes from Ideonella sakaiensis that allow it to break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic in saltwater. They introduced the genetic sequence for the enzymes into V. natriegens using a plasmid. This is the first time V. natriegens has been engineered to express foreign enzymes on its cell surface and the first organism shown to break down microplastics in saltwater, addressing a major source of ocean plastic pollution. Additional work is still needed but overcoming degradation in saltwater was a significant challenge overcome.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 2

    Name: Breanne Margarethe A.

    Lucañas General Biology 2


    Year: STEM2E Activity No.1

    Genetically Modified Bacteria break down plastics in Saltwater


    October 26, 2023

    Researchers have
    genetically engineered a
    marine microorganism to
    break down plastic in salt
    water. The modified
    organism can break down
    polyethylene terephthalate
    (PET), a contributor to
    microplastic pollution in
    oceans that is used in
    everything from water
    bottles to clothing.

    The researchers worked with two species of bacteria. The first, Vibrio natriegens,
    thrives in saltwater and reproduces very quickly. The second, Ideonella sakaiensis,
    produces enzymes that enable it to break down and metabolize PET.

    The researchers took the DNA from I. sakaiensis and incorporated its genetic
    sequence into a plasmid. Plasmids are genetic sequences that can replicate in a cell,
    independent of the cell's own chromosome. By introducing the plasmid containing the I.
    sakaiensis genes into V. natriegens bacteria, the researchers were able to get V.
    natriegens to produce the desired enzymes on the surfaces of their cells. The researchers
    then demonstrated that V. natriegens could break down PET in a saltwater environment
    at room temperature.
    "This is the first time anyone has reported successfully getting V. natriegens to
    express foreign enzymes on the surface of its cells," says Nathan Crook, corresponding
    author of the paper on the work, published in the AIChE Journal, and a chemical and
    biomolecular engineer at North Carolina State University. The work was done with
    funding support from the U.S. National Science Foundation.

    "From a practical standpoint, this is also the first genetically engineered organism
    that we know of that is capable of breaking down PET microplastics in saltwater," says
    Tianyu Li of NC State, first author of the paper. The researchers acknowledged that
    additional hurdles must be addressed, but "breaking down the PET in saltwater was the
    most challenging" part of their work, according to Crook.

    Reference:

    Genetically modified bacteria break down plastics in saltwater. NSF. (2023, October 26).
    https://new.nsf.gov/news/genetically-modified-bacteria-break-down-
    plastics#:~:text=Researchers%20have%20genetically%20engineered%20a,from%20water
    %20bottles%20to%20clothing.

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