Biotechnology is something there are many debates on, but I feel that protecting the environment with useful, ethical technology is something that can be agreed upon. Ellie Pope and I worked together on our applications of biotechnology project to learn and teach our other teammates about Environmental Cleanup. This project has sparked so much interest in me that I am also writing a research paper on our example and breakthrough posts!
Environmental cleanup is a biotechnology category in which certain microorganisms will have the ability to transform dangerous chemicals in our environments into recoverable materials. As well as using genes from genetically engineered microbes with valuable metabolic capabilities to clean, eat, or transform toxic wastes. Applications we focused on were Bacteria, Composting, Recycling, and Landfill, and others like Pest Control and Biopesticides. Bacteria can be genetically modified to to eat toxic chemicals in the environment like oil and concretes. Composting, Recycling, and Landfill, though simple, are products of biotechnology that are used to benefit the environment when used correctly, if used at all. Pest controls and biopesticides can also be genetically modified with other organisms, but instead of hurting the environment like regular pesticides, biopesticides are easily broken down and recycled back into the ecosystems. Then we focused in even more to Bio enzymes. Bio enzymes can carry out total transformations of the structure of a contaminant and cause a complete conversion of a substance into an inorganic end product. As combinations, bio enzymes work to break down complex waste particles into smaller pieces that bacteria can more easily consume-like plastics. PET plastics or Polyethylene Terephthalate is a cheap and easily manufactured plastic that causes so much the pollution in our world. PET plastics are first made into tiny balls of plastic, then remanufactured into strings of plastic for clothes, water bottles, and most other plastic-containing containers. Scientists from the University of Portsmouth engineered a super enzyme that has the ability to break down plastic. Using an enzyme called PETase, which was discovered by Japanese scientists in 2016; The enzyme hails from the bacteria Ideonella sakaiensis and breaks down PET plastics. PETase allows bacteria to eat the plastic, by breaking down polyethylene into edible materials, while the bacteria do this, they produce an enzyme called MHETase. MHETase continues to break down the plastic reducing microplastics. The DNA combination of PETase and MHETase is what creates the “super enzyme”. Ideonella sakaiensis is not the only living thing that works to break down plastics. Worms like Mealworms and Waxworms have powerful stomach enzymes that break down plastics, this is not a solution though because the worms remove the waste and break down plastic back into the environment but are not a part of the food chain. Last, we came up with an ethical question: Should this “fix” be introduced to the environment more progressively even if the problem is not addressed at the source?
For more information on this study check out the website!
https://oceanblueproject.org/plastic-eating-enzyme/
This project was so much fun and was able to dive deeply into my own topic, I really enjoyed learning about everyone else topics! Ellie and I work very well together, so per usual, we did not have any problems with splitting up the work and getting it done. The only problem that we faced was trying to come up with an ethical question, because environmental cleanup technology is generally good, without clear examples of the “what if”, ideas did not flow for questions. Even after looking up “ethical debates of environmental cleanup” – nothing. The worst thing I found is that soil could become less dense and therefore less strong as a base with the biopesticides or bio-bacterias in the water. If I had to do this project again, I would give myself more time for research on plastic-eating bio enzymes instead of rushing through during a class period; I am also super excited to do more research on this for my paper in English! I love how all of my classes are connecting, I feel like the things I learn in AP bio are real-life things, instead of learning of something I might never think about again. I LOVE BIOLOGY!!!
