Researchers characterize molecular scissors for plastic waste
Friday, April 12, 2019 - 06:10
in Biology & Nature
A research team from the University of Greifswald and Helmholtz-Zentrum-Berlin (HZB) has solved the molecular structure of the enzyme MHETase at BESSY II. MHETase was discovered in bacteria, and together with a second enzyme, PETase, is able to break down the widely used plastic PET into its basic building blocks. This 3D structure already allowed the researchers to produce a MHETase variant with optimized activity in order to use it, together with PETase, for a sustainable recycling of PET.