Friday, October 16Global edition

Topic: AI-designed enzymes

A single-atom tweak makes a plastic-eating enzyme twice as fast

Researchers at the Australian National University swapped one atom in a PET-degrading enzyme and halved the time it takes to break down plastic bottle material — without sacrificing heat resistance. Separately, DeepMind has designed enzymes from scratch, including one that produces a key industrial chemical at 99 times the rate of the existing method.

2 min read