98:, and other enzymes. A driving force for the team is the use of technoeconomic analysis and life-cycle assessment to guide their research direction, and help understand the economic and environmental impacts of new recycling technologies. Their current focus is on the development of circular systems and industrially scalable processes that reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and mitigate environmental pollution.
27:
166:
where he led a research team on enzyme engineering. In 2022, he took up the position of
Secretary General of The World Plastics Association in Monaco, where he co-chaired two international summits. McGeehan co-chaired the innaugural Gordon Research Conference on Plastics Recycling and Upcycling with
77:
and used the structure to design improved versions of the enzyme. The initial research story was covered widely in the press (The Times, The
Guardian, and The Economist) and television media (BBC, ITV, CNN, CBS, Al Jazeera, and HBO), reaching a global audience of over 2 billion people. The published
174:
in 2024 as a
Principal Scientist in the BioEnergy Science and Technology Group as part of the Circular Economy for Energy Materials initiative. Utilizing biochemical engineering and biochemical sciences, he leads collaborative projects on the design and application of enzyme-based technologies for
81:
Plastics, including PET, while incredibly versatile, are resistant to natural breakdown and represent an increasing source of pollution in the environment. Enzymes offer potential routes to breakdown plastics into their original monomers to allow circular recycling. The team continues to make
853:
Singh, Avantika; Rorrer, Nicholas A.; Nicholson, Scott R.; Erickson, Erika; DesVeaux, Jason S.; Avelino, Andre F.T.; Lamers, Patrick; Bhatt, Arpit; Zhang, Yimin; Avery, Greg; Tao, Ling; Pickford, Andrew R.; Carpenter, Alberta C.; McGeehan, John E.; Beckham, Gregg T. (September 2021).
762:
Erickson, Erika; Gado, Japheth E.; Avilán, Luisana; Bratti, Felicia; Brizendine, Richard K.; Cox, Paul A.; Gill, Raj; Graham, Rosie; Kim, Dong-Jin; König, Gerhard; Michener, William E.; Poudel, Saroj; Ramirez, Kelsey J.; Shakespeare, Thomas J.; Zahn, Michael (2022-12-21).
252:
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)".
183:
McGeehan has interests in enzymes involved in the breakdown and valorisation of biomass including cellulose and lignin, and the discovery and engineering of enzymes for the synthesis and recycling of sustainable chemicals, materials, and plastics.
161:
In 2007, he returned to the
University of Portsmouth, was awarded a Readership in 2012, and full professorship in 2016. In 2019, McGeehan became the founding director of the Centre for Enzyme Innovation (CEI) at the
604:
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".
1011:
703:
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).
82:
further improvements to these enzymes through the characterisation of natural bacterial systems followed by protein engineering in the laboratory. Their latest work employs the use of
895:
Uekert, Taylor; DesVeaux, Jason S.; Singh, Avantika; Nicholson, Scott R.; Lamers, Patrick; Ghosh, Tapajyoti; McGeehan, John E.; Carpenter, Alberta C.; Beckham, Gregg T. (2022-08-30).
201:
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).
996:
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Ellis, Lucas D.; Rorrer, Nicholas A.; Sullivan, Kevin P.; Otto, Maike; McGeehan, John E.; Román-Leshkov, Yuriy; Wierckx, Nick; Beckham, Gregg T. (July 2021).
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before joining the
University of Portsmouth in 2000, where he worked on DNA-binding proteins. In 2005, he obtained a postdoctoral fellowship with the
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52:(PET), the primary material used in the manufacture of single-use plastic bottles and synthetic textiles. The bacteria that produces this enzyme,
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is a
Scottish research scientist and professor of structural biology. He was director of the Centre for Enzyme Innovation (CEI) at the
48:
In 2018, McGeehan co-led an international team of scientists who characterized and engineered an enzyme with the ability to breakdown
427:
500:
856:"Techno-economic, life-cycle, and socioeconomic impact analysis of enzymatic recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate)"
62:
167:
Gregg T. Beckham in 2023, bringing together 200 researchers to discuss viable solutions to our plastics problem.
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314:"High resolution crystal structure of a polyethylene terephthalate degrading hydrolase from Ideonella sakaiensis"
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leadership team, one of the largest US research groups focused on plastic recycling. He is a member of the
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58:, was originally discovered and isolated in a recycling plant by a Japanese research group in 2016.
587:"Altmetric – Characterization and engineering of a two-enzyme system for plastics depolymerization"
765:"Sourcing thermotolerant poly(ethylene terephthalate) hydrolase scaffolds from natural diversity"
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545:"Scientists accidentally discovered a plastic-eating enzyme that could revolutionize recycling"
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Following his PhD in
Glasgow, McGeehan worked in the Structural Biology Laboratories at the
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research was highlighted in the
Altmetric Top 100 of all published papers in 2018 and 2020.
20:
569:"Altmetric – Characterization and engineering of a plastic-degrading aromatic polyesterase"
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266:
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705:"Characterization and engineering of a two-enzyme system for plastics depolymerization"
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Austin, H.P.; Allen, M.D.; Johnson, C.W.; Beckham, G.T.; McGeehan, J.E. (2018-04-25).
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203:"Characterization and engineering of a plastic-degrading aromatic polyesterase"
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in
Ayrshire, Scotland, and earned a bachelor's degree in microbiology from the
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452:"An accidental global warming solution? Enzymes that could break down plastic"
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The team at Portsmouth University, together with researchers at NREL and the
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501:"Could a tiny enzyme eradicate plastic garbage plaguing the world's oceans?"
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897:"Life cycle assessment of enzymatic poly(ethylene terephthalate) recycling"
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666:"Chemical and biological catalysis for plastics recycling and upcycling"
380:"Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles"
158:, France, researching macromolecular crystallography and spectroscopy.
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For the lawyer, district attorney, and judge in New York City, see
25:
521:"Scientists test plastic-eating enzyme in bid to fight pollution"
938:"Monaco's World Plastics Summit makes its mark first time out"
347:"Plastic-eating enzyme hailed as breakthrough in recycling"
477:"Scientists hope new enzyme will 'eat' plastic pollution"
119:
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Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization
404:"An enzyme that digests plastic could boost recycling"
118:(MRC) Virology unit, Glasgow. He is a member of the
41:until 2022 and is now a principal scientist at the
822:"A.I. Predicts the Shapes of Molecules to Come"
709:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
207:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
114:in 1993, followed by a PhD in virology at the
94:) to uncover the 3D structures of alternative
65:, solved the high-resolution structure of the
8:
428:"Recycling hope for plastic-hungry enzyme"
997:Academics of the University of Portsmouth
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345:Whipple, Tom; Webster, Ben (2018-04-17).
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30:John McGeehan at the Diamond Light Source
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152:European Molecular Biology Laboratory
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175:sustainable chemicals and polymers.
172:National Renewable Energy Laboratory
43:National Renewable Energy Laboratory
1007:Academics of the University of York
1002:Alumni of the University of Glasgow
14:
378:Carrington, Damian (2018-04-16).
1:
873:10.1016/j.joule.2021.06.015
106:McGeehan went to school at
63:University of South Florida
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936:Brodie, Ian (2022-03-27).
781:10.1038/s41467-022-35237-x
682:10.1038/s41929-021-00648-4
136:Royal Society of Chemistry
50:polyethylene terephthalate
18:
16:British research scientist
820:Metz, Cade (2021-07-22).
124:American Chemical Society
102:Education and memberships
164:University of Portsmouth
132:Royal Society of Biology
116:Medical Research Council
39:University of Portsmouth
722:10.1073/pnas.2006753117
627:10.1126/science.1260352
275:10.1126/science.aad6359
220:10.1073/pnas.1718804115
45:(NREL), Colorado, US.
31:
942:NEWS.MC - Monaco News
769:Nature Communications
112:University of Glasgow
71:X-ray crystallography
29:
966:scholar.google.co.uk
170:McGeehan joined the
134:and a Fellow of the
75:Diamond Light Source
55:Ideonella sakaiensis
715:(41): 25476–25485.
619:2015Sci...347..768J
326:10.2210/pdb6eqe/pdb
267:2016Sci...351.1196Y
261:(6278): 1196–1199.
213:(19): E4350–E4357.
962:"John E. McGeehan"
914:10.1039/D2GC02162E
826:The New York Times
591:pnas.altmetric.com
573:pnas.altmetric.com
148:University of York
130:, a Fellow of the
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907:(17): 6531–6543.
613:(6223): 768–771.
525:www.aljazeera.com
475:Wilkinson, Bard.
120:BOTTLE Consortium
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947:2024-07-23
839:2024-07-23
554:2018-08-17
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351:The Times
283:0036-8075
84:AlphaFold
807:36543766
749:32989159
643:25678662
456:ITV News
432:BBC News
299:31146235
291:26965627
239:29666242
179:Research
156:Grenoble
88:DeepMind
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