Tiny Bits of Help

Many other scientists are finding ways to use the bacterial work force. Some chemists are using enzymes from bacteria to break down agents of biological warfare. Sarin, the deadly nerve gas sprayed in 1995 into the Tokyo subway system by the cult Aum Shinrikyo, is one example. One of a class of molecules called organophosphates, sarin trips vital nerve circuitry in the bodies of people or animals who come in contact with it very small quantities can kill a sarin-exposed victim in as little as 5 minutes. 

Fortunately, however, certain types of bacteria manufacture an enzyme called phospho-triesterase (PTE) that inactivates sarin and other organophosphate molecules like it, some of which are found in certain insecticides but are hundreds of times less toxic to people. Certain organophosphates, such as the common insecticide malathion, kill insects because, unlike animals, bugs lack an enzyme that breaks down this chemical. For many years Frank Raushel of Texas A M University in College Station has studied the PTE enzyme, and recently he and his colleague Hazel Holden of the University of Wisconsin-Madison cleared a substantial hurdle They identified the three-dimensional structure— a molecular snapshot —of what this enzyme looks like. This information will help scientists understand how the enzyme works—and could reveal how to engineer one that works even better. 

---