Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-22-2026
Abstract
Millions of tons of keratin-rich waste are disposed of annually, which could be revalorized, mitigating greenhouse emissions and pollution. Microbial keratinases offer tools for keratin waste valorization, yet they lack robustness for industrial use. In an Applied and Environmental Microbiology article, Y. Yang, Y. Luo, Y. Ding, Y. Yao, et al. (92:e01860-25, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.01860-25) integrated machine learning, rational design, and empirical screening to produce boiling-resistant variants that were reusable and highly effective at keratin degradation, demonstrating the promise of deep-learning-guided enzyme engineering.
Publication Title
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Volume
92
Issue
7
PubMed ID
42227758
Recommended Citation
Jenney, Francis, "Reengineering a thermostable keratinase past the boiling point." (2026). PCOM Scholarly Works. 2377.
https://digitalcommons.pcom.edu/scholarly_papers/2377
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00126-26
Comments
This article was published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Volume 92, Issue 7.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00126-26.
Copyright © 2026 Jenney. CC BY 4.0.