Co-contaminated substrates where multiple pollutants are present
Ecosystems under thermal or oxidative stress
Through the systemic modulation of six key CAS variables---structural complexity, interaction density, adaptive plasticity, mutational probability, selection pressure, and emergent stability---the model can simulate resilient evolutionary pathways, producing enzymes with built-in plasticity for field applications.
2. Applications in Environmental Engineering
A. Targeted Polymer Degradation
Using CAS simulations, one can evolve enzyme variants specifically tuned for:
Crystalline vs. amorphous PET
Additive-laden consumer plastics
Multilayer packaging materials with diverse chemical bonds
CAS-predicted motifs can guide the design of catalytic clefts with enhanced substrate specificity and penetration depth, overcoming current barriers in plastic biodegradation.
B. Microbial Consortium Engineering
