SEEDS Internship : Bioremediation of plastics with enzymes

Plastic pollution is a growing environmental challenge. Every year, about 400 million tonnes of plastic end up in landfills, and 8 million tonnes end up in oceans. A large part of this waste is ABS plastic—a kind  of plastic material used in LEGO toy bricks, computer keyboards, and wall sockets. These plastics are very durable and can take thousands of years to break down on their own. Our project focuses on using enzymes—proteins that speed up chemical reactions—to break down these tough plastics. At the Centre for Enzyme Innovation (CEI), we study natural enzymes from plants and microbes, then improve them in the lab so they work faster and more efficiently. The main goal is to create enzyme-based methods that can safely and effectively break down ABS plastics. Along with studying microbes that already have the ability to act on similar types of plastic. This could lead to new recycling solutions for some of the world’s most persistent plastic waste.

Work plan: Full-time/part-time

Research work will be carried out at the renowned Centre for Enzyme Innovation (CEI), a new state-of-the-art laboratory facilities for the plastic degradation/recycle research with expert teams from across the world; joined specifically to address the plastic pollution via enzyme-enabled solutions.

You will study plastic degrading enzymes via Bio-physical, Bio-catalytic and Structural Biology based techniques. The project will investigate microbial interaction with the environment and each other, as well as their effects on degradation of anthropogenic chemicals and polymers.

Techniques we use :Directed evolution, high-throughput screening and AI based computational studies to identify and evolve new generation of plastic eating enzyme