Organophosphate pesticide degradation: evolved enzymes and biomimetics for bioremediation and medicine

Organophosphates (OPs) are toxic compounds that represent a significant threat to the environment and to human health. There are a number of bacterial enzymes like the organophosphate degrading enzyme (OPDA), that are capable of degrading OPs, but they degrade some OPs slowly while others are not degraded at all. We intend to use directed evolution to enhance the catalytic properties of these enzymes. We will also apply a number of physical and chemical techniques to OPDA and mutant forms of the enzyme to get a better understanding of how it functions.