Robert Mejia

Current Research

Bioconversion of Underutilized Plant Biomass Carbon Sources to Biodegradable Bioplastics

I am involved in two projects: 1) enzymatic deconstruction of polystyrene; and 2) characterizing the hydrolytic aryl O-demethylase. For the first project, I am assessing the ability of various proteins to bind, oxidize, and depolymerize polystyrene. The second project involves purifying the only known hydrolytic aryl O-demethylase, dnhAB, and determining its reaction mechanism, Michaelis-Menten kinetics, substrate scope, and three-dimensional structure. These projects could have implications for industrial sustainability.