Supercomputers Help Reveal Dynamic Plastic-Eating Duo




Supersized Science show

Summary: Plastic waste is a big problem in the environment. About 300 million tons of plastic waste are produced every year, according to the United Nations. Much of that is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a plastic in single-use bottles, carpets, and clamshell packaging. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency estimates annually that only about 29 percent of PET bottles are recycled. In 2016, Japanese scientists discovered that the bacteria Ideonella sakaiensis had evolved digestive enzymes called PETase that breakdown PET. And in October of 2020, a study came out in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It used supercomputers allocated by XSEDE, the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment. They revealed more about a sidekick enzyme, called MHETase, that helps PETase breakdown PET plastic. Stampede2 here at TACC; Comet at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, and the Eagle system of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory were use in the PETase-MHETase study. While dealing with plastic pollution at scale remains daunting, in the words of Jeff Goldblum’s character in the movie Jurassic Park, “Life finds a way.” Podcast host and TACC science writer Jorge Salazar is joined by study co-authors Brandon Knott and Erika Erickson, both scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where Knott is a staff engineer and Erickson is a post-doctoral researcher. Supersized Science is part of the Texas Podcast Network – the conversations changing the world – brought to you by The University of Texas at Austin. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts, and not of The University of Texas at Austin. Story Link: www.tacc.utexas.edu/-/supercomputer…stic-eating-duo Music Credit: Raro Bueno, Chuzausen freemusicarchive.org/music/Chuzausen/