Enzymatic degradation of plastic

Synthetic chemicals have transformed agriculture, medicine, and industry, yet their health  
and environmental costs are increasingly evident. Pesticides persist in soils and  
waterways, plastics accumulate across ecosystems, and widespread antibiotic use has  
driven the emergence of resistant microbes. Once considered a clinical problem 
antimicrobial resistance is now understood as an environmental phenomenon, with 
resistant bacteria and resistance genes spreading through wastewater, agricultural 
systems, and the clinic. Enzymes offer a distinctive way to address these challenges. As 
nature’s catalysts, enzymes drive chemical reactions with high specificity and efficiency 
operating under mild conditions. In ecosystems, enzymatic processes govern 
biodegradation, microbial communication, and adaptive responses to chemical stress 
Our lab explores how these natural capabilities can be harnessed to mitigate pollution
and reduce harmful microbial activities.We study enzymes that degrade persistent
pesticides and plastics, as well as enzymes that interfere with microbial communication 
as an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal stratgy. Such strategies can suppress virulence and
biofilm formation while reducing the selective pressure that fuels resistance. Taken
together, these studies ask how insights from natural enzymatic processes can inform
more sustainable approaches to pollution and microbial challenges in environmental
systems