Breakthrough Could Detoxify Pollutants in the Environment: Organisms Lower Toxicity Levels

Scientists may have made a major breakthrough when it comes to detoxifying dangerous pollutants such as PCBs and dioxins. They've found that certain organisms are able to lower the toxicity of pollutants, which may pave the way for future research to deal with environmental pollution.

"We already know that some of the most toxic pollutants contain halogen atoms and that most biological systems simply don't know how to deal with these molecules," said David Leys, one of the researchers, in a news release. "However, there are some organisms that can remove these halogen atoms using vitamin B12. Our research has identified that they use vitamin B12 in a very different way to how we currently use it.

Combating chemicals in the environment is important, especially considering how many contaminants have been released over time. While some measures have been taken to limit chemical release, such as banning PCBs, pollutants are still released. Learning how to clean up these chemicals could improve both human and environmental health.

In this case, the scientists grew enough of the natural organisms to study how they detoxify their pollutants. Over the course of 15 years, the researchers obtained key proteins through genetic modification of other, faster growing organisms. Then, they used X-ray crystallography to study how the organisms manage to remove halogen.

"Detailing how this novel process of detoxification works means that we are now in a position to look at replicating it," said Leys. "We hope that ultimately new ways of combating some of the world's biggest toxins can now be developed more quickly and efficiently. As well as combatting the toxicity and longevity of pollutants we're also confident that our findings can help to develop a better method for screening environmental or food samples."

The findings are published in the journal Nature.