Skip to main content

Illinois IGB

Suva Narayan

iGEM 2021: Designing better enzymes to break down plastic

August 4, 2021

Polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, is a type of plastic that is widely used for packaging food and beverages, including soft drinks, juices, and water. Although PET is the most recycled plastic in the U.S., its current recycling rate is only 31%. This year’s UIUC iGEM team aims to improve that by tweaking PETase—a naturally-occurring enzyme found in Ideonella sakaiensis, a bacterium discovered in 2016 as the world’s first PET-eating bacterium.


August 4, 2021


Related Articles

Subscribe to Suva Narayan