Gene-edited fruit flies now make plastic-digesting enzymes safely
Pirillo V, Barca F, Bruno D, Caramella S, Fontana C
Phytoremediation
If insects can be engineered to break down plastic waste without harming themselves, that same biotech toolkit could eventually help tackle the plastic mulch and packaging piling up around farms and gardens.
Researchers put genes for two lab-improved, plastic-degrading enzymes into fruit flies, so the flies' own bodies would make and release these enzymes. One of the two enzymes worked much better at breaking down PET plastic, and importantly, the flies carrying these genes grew up normal, healthy, and able to reproduce. This suggests insects could one day be bred as living plastic-recycling tools without harming the insects themselves.
Key Findings
TA-ΔLCC enzyme showed roughly 6-fold higher activity than TS-ΔIsPET when produced in fly larvae
TA-ΔLCC extract successfully broke down PET plastic nanoparticles under favorable lab conditions
Transgenic flies showed no disruption to development, fertility, survival, or gut structure despite producing the foreign enzymes
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists engineered fruit flies to produce plastic-eating enzymes in their gut, and the flies stayed healthy while one enzyme variant successfully broke down PET plastic particles in lab tests.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Functional expression of engineered IsPETase and LCC variants in Drosophila melanogaster reveals host tolerance and differential catalytic activity.
Insects offer promising opportunities for organic waste bioconversion; however, they cannot efficiently degrade synthetic polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Here, we generated trans...
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