CAS modeling doesn't need to be restricted to single enzymes. It can be extended to simulate multienzyme interactions within a microbial chassis, predicting emergent behaviors such as:
Division of labor between enzymes
Allosteric enhancement or inhibition within metabolic pathways
Feedback mechanisms that regulate degradation kinetics in situ
This opens the door for consortium-level synthetic ecology, where CAS principles help engineer self-regulating microbial systems for environmental deployment.
3. Generalizing Beyond PETases
While PETase offers a focused case study, the framework can be generalized for:
Enzymes targeting aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g., laccases, peroxidases)
Nitrogen-fixing enzymes in polluted soils
Enzymes that disrupt antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater treatment plants
Each of these applications benefits from the ability of CAS-based simulations to capture evolutionary trade-offs, epistatic constraints, and long-range structural interactions.
