John McGeehan, Principal Scientist of Biochemical Engineering at the National Renewable Energy Lab, will give a talk on "Learning from Nature: Engineering Enzymes to Tackle Plastic Pollution."

This seminar will also be available by Zoom. Zoom link: https://gc-cuny.zoom.us/j/91448257859?pwd=2dSdb1Ne4u1liuzauChpsX5m6Ya5L…; Meeting ID: 914 4825 7859.  Passcode:  asrc+ccny

ABSTRACT

Following the discovery in a Japanese recycling facility of a bacterium capable of breaking down the man-made plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET), we turned our attention towards uncovering the detailed workings of enzymes that can perform this remarkable reaction. Found in single-use drinks bottles, packaging, and clothing, PET can take centuries to decompose and is accumulating in our environment at a staggering rate. Enzymes that can digest PET, and other highly polluting plastics, into their original monomer building blocks provides routes towards circular plastic recycling. Working across broad scientific areas, from microbiology field studies searching for novel plastic-digesting bacteria, through to biochemistry and structural biology combined with artificial intelligence, we are engineering improved enzymes and accelerating technologies to help tackle our plastics crisis. John will provide an introduction to this growing field and updates on the latest developments from the NREL research team.