One of the greatest weaknesses of plastic is that it corrodes, wears out and pollutes our natural environment.
A report by Greenpeace U.S. says that 51 million tons of plastic waste was generated by American households in 2021, with only 2.4 million tons recycled.
Scientists are exploring ways to break down the plastic—it’s like the body breaking down food during digestion.
scientists would like to use the same kind of power to address issues outside of biology, from the aforementioned breaking down of plastic to processing toxic waste to chemical weapons remediation.
Enzymes are catalysts which accelerate biological reactions. By mimicking nature's design, we can use enzymes to make things happen that never would have happened in the natural world.
This is an example of how research is providing us with the knowledge and tools to improve our abilities to improve laundry performance.
It's hard to find one of these enzymes that works on a particular reaction. Scientists are constantly searching for the right spot on an enzyme to improve its function.
Researchers from Yokohama City University in Japan have devised a new method that uses NMR directed evolution to improve enzyme engineering.
If a reaction requires new enzymes, then the first thing researchers do is to look for an existing enzyme that performs the same function.
We introduce mutations to that protein and see what happens. Then we see if any of the new mutations can improve activity.
Organo-Inorganic Chemistry takes organic reactions and puts them into a broader framework, demonstrating that these same strategies are readily applicable to inorganic chemistry.