plastizymes

Noun

plastizyme (plural plastizymes)

1. Any of a type of molecularly imprinted polymer engineered to function as an enzyme, being a catalyst to aid breakdown of molecules, for industrial uses and in environmental remediation.
   • Abstract: The chapter describes the concept of molecular imprinting. This technology allows the fabrication of artificial polymeric receptors applicable in many areas of biotechnology. […] in solid phase extraction or immunoassays these polymers (MIP [molecularly imprinted polymers]) are able to...2002, Oliver Brüggemann, “Molecularly Imprinted Materials — Receptors More Durable than Nature Can Provide”, in Modern Advances in Chromatography (Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology)...
2. Any of many plastic-degrading enzymes: ones capable of catalyzing the breakdown of bonds in synthetic polymers. Some have evolved in nature (within plastivores) and others have been bioengineered.
   • This study presents the first integrated reference catalog of plastic-contaminated environments obtained using an insilico workflow that could play a significant role in discovering new plastizymes. […] This research presents a comprehensive overview of an integrated plastic-contaminated...2023, Donya Afshar Jahanshahi, Shohreh Ariaeenejad, Kaveh Kavousi, “A metagenomic catalog for exploring the plastizymes landscape covering taxa, genes, and proteins”, in Scientific Reports, volume...