Known for their ability to remove methane from the environment and convert it into a usable fuel, methanotrophic bacteria have long fascinated researchers. But how, exactly, these bacteria naturally perform such a complex reaction has been a mystery.
Now an interdisciplinary team at Northwestern University has found that the enzyme responsible for the methane-methanol conversion catalyzes this reaction at a site that contains just one copper ion.
This finding could lead to newly designed, human-made catalysts that can convert methane -- a highly potent greenhouse gas -- to readily usable methanol with the same effortless mechanism.
To read more, click here.