John McGeehan

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For the lawyer, district attorney, and judge in New York City, see John E. McGeehan.
John McGeehan at the Diamond Light Source

John McGeehan is a British research scientist and scientific lead of the World Plastics Summit. He was professor of structural biology and director of the Centre for Enzyme Innovation (CEI) at the University of Portsmouth until 2022 and led a research team on enzyme engineering.

In 2018, McGeehan co-led an international team of scientists who characterized and engineered an enzyme with the ability to breakdown crystalline polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the primary material used in the manufacture of single-use plastic bottles, in some clothing, and in carpets.[1] The bacteria that produces this enzyme, Ideonella sakaiensis, was originally discovered and isolated in a recycling plant by a Japanese research group in 2016.[2]

The team at Portsmouth University, together with researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of South Florida, solved the high-resolution structure of the PETase enzyme using X-ray crystallography at the Diamond Light Source.[3] The team used the structure to design an improved version of the enzyme, making it more efficient, and raising the possibility of further efficiency gains.[4][5] They demonstrated that it can also break down polyethylenefuranoate (PEF), a potential plant-based PET replacement.

Plastics such as PET, while incredibly versatile, are resistant to natural breakdown and are now an increasing source of pollution in the environment.[6] The research team aims to develop improved enzymes to breakdown plastics into their original building blocks so they can be reused as part of a circular plastics economy.[4]

The initial research story was covered widely in the press in 2018 (The Times,[7] The Guardian,[8] and The Economist[9]), television media (BBC,[10] ITV,[11] CNN,[12] CBS,[13] Al Jazeera,[14] and HBO[15]), and by funding organisations, including the BBSRC[16] and UKRI.[17]

The team has continued to make further improvements to enzymes that can break down plastics through the characterisation of natural bacterial systems followed by laboratory protein engineering.[18] Their latest work employs the use of AlphaFold through a collaboration with DeepMind (video) to uncover the 3D structures of alternative PETase enzymes.

In 2022, McGeehan took up the role as scientific lead of the World Plastics Summit, an organisation supporting the development and delivery of solutions to tackle plastic pollution.[19]

Education

McGeehan went to school at Largs Academy in Ayrshire, Scotland, and earned a bachelor's degree in microbiology from the University of Glasgow in 1993, followed by a PhD in virology at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Virology unit, Glasgow.[20]

Career

Following his PhD in Glasgow, McGeehan worked in the Structural Biology Laboratories at the University of York before joining Professor Geoff Kneales' group at the University of Portsmouth in 2000, where he worked for five years on DNA-binding proteins.[20] In 2005, he obtained a postdoctoral fellowship with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Grenoble, France, in Raimond Ravelli's group researching macromolecular crystallography and spectroscopy.[20] In 2007, he returned to the University of Portsmouth, was awarded a Readership in 2012, and full professorship in 2016.[20]

Research

McGeehan has interests in enzymes involved in the breakdown and valorization of biomass such as cellulose[21] and lignin,[22] and the discovery and engineering of enzymes for the breakdown of synthetic polymers such as plastics.

References

  1. ^ Austin, Harry P.; Allen, Mark D.; Donohoe, Bryon S.; Rorrer, Nicholas A.; Kearns, Fiona L.; Silveira, Rodrigo L.; Pollard, Benjamin C.; Dominick, Graham; Duman, Ramona (2018-05-08). "Characterization and engineering of a plastic-degrading aromatic polyesterase". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (19): E4350–E4357. doi:10.1073/pnas.1718804115. PMC 5948967. PMID 29666242.
  2. ^ Yoshida, Shosuke; Hiraga, Kazumi; Takehana, Toshihiko; Taniguchi, Ikuo; Yamaji, Hironao; Maeda, Yasuhito; Toyohara, Kiyotsuna; Miyamoto, Kenji; Kimura, Yoshiharu (2016-03-11). "A bacterium that degrades and assimilates poly(ethylene terephthalate)". Science. 351 (6278): 1196–1199. Bibcode:2016Sci...351.1196Y. doi:10.1126/science.aad6359. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 26965627. S2CID 31146235.
  3. ^ Austin, H.P.; Allen, M.D.; Johnson, C.W.; Beckham, G.T.; McGeehan, J.E. (2018-04-25). "High resolution crystal structure of a polyethylene terephthalate degrading hydrolase from Ideonella sakaiensis". www.rcsb.org. doi:10.2210/pdb6eqe/pdb. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  4. ^ a b Carrington, Damian (16 April 2018). "Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles". the Guardian. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  5. ^ Editorial, Reuters (17 April 2018). "Plastic-eating enzyme holds promise in fighting pollution - scientists". reuters.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ Jambeck, Jenna R.; Geyer, Roland; Wilcox, Chris; Siegler, Theodore R.; Perryman, Miriam; Andrady, Anthony; Narayan, Ramani; Law, Kara Lavender (2015-02-13). "Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean". Science. 347 (6223): 768–771. Bibcode:2015Sci...347..768J. doi:10.1126/science.1260352. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 25678662. S2CID 206562155.
  7. ^ Whipple, Tom; Webster, Ben (2018-04-17). "Plastic-eating enzyme hailed as breakthrough in recycling". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  8. ^ Carrington, Damian (2018-04-16). "Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  9. ^ "An enzyme that digests plastic could boost recycling". The Economist. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  10. ^ "Recycling hope for plastic-hungry enzyme". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  11. ^ "An accidental global warming solution? Enzymes that could break down plastic". ITV News. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  12. ^ Wilkinson, Bard. "Scientists hope new enzyme will 'eat' plastic pollution". CNN. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  13. ^ "Could a tiny enzyme eradicate plastic garbage plaguing the world's oceans?". Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  14. ^ "Scientists test plastic-eating enzyme in bid to fight pollution". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  15. ^ "Scientists accidentally discovered a plastic-eating enzyme that could revolutionize recycling". VICE News. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  16. ^ "16 April 2018 - Engineering a plastic-eating enzyme - BBSRC". bbsrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  17. ^ "Engineering a plastic-eating enzyme - UK Research and Innovation". www.ukri.org. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  18. ^ Knott, Brandon C.; Erickson, Erika; Allen, Mark D.; Gado, Japheth E.; Graham, Rosie; Kearns, Fiona L.; Pardo, Isabel; Topuzlu, Ece; Anderson, Jared J.; Austin, Harry P.; Dominick, Graham (2020-09-24). "Characterization and engineering of a two-enzyme system for plastics depolymerization". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (41): 25476–25485. doi:10.1073/pnas.2006753117. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 7568301. PMID 32989159.
  19. ^ "World Plastics Summit 2022 | 24-26 March Monaco". worldplasticssummit.org. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  20. ^ a b c d "Staff: Professor John McGeehan - University of Portsmouth". www.port.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  21. ^ Kern, Marcelo; McGeehan, John E.; Streeter, Simon D.; Martin, Richard N. A.; Besser, Katrin; Elias, Luisa; Eborall, Will; Malyon, Graham P.; Payne, Christina M. (2013-06-18). "Structural characterization of a unique marine animal family 7 cellobiohydrolase suggests a mechanism of cellulase salt tolerance". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110 (25): 10189–10194. Bibcode:2013PNAS..11010189K. doi:10.1073/pnas.1301502110. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3690837. PMID 23733951.
  22. ^ Mallinson, Sam J. B.; Machovina, Melodie M.; Silveira, Rodrigo L.; Garcia-Borràs, Marc; Gallup, Nathan; Johnson, Christopher W.; Allen, Mark D.; Skaf, Munir S.; Crowley, Michael F. (2018-06-27). "A promiscuous cytochrome P450 aromatic O-demethylase for lignin bioconversion". Nature Communications. 9 (1): 2487. Bibcode:2018NatCo...9.2487M. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04878-2. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 6021390. PMID 29950589.
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