WHALE corpses rotting deep in the Pacific Ocean are yielding bacterial
enzymes that could let us wash our dirty laundry in cold water.
Samples from whale carcasses have been shown to contain enzymes that readily
digest oils and fats between 15 掳C and 20 掳C. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 ideal for
cold-water detergents,鈥� says Jeff Stein, principal scientist at Diversa, a
biotechnology company in San Diego, California.
Diversa is collaborating with oceanographer Craig Smith and his colleagues at
the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Smith studies the creatures that live on
whale corpses using a submersible called Alvin, owned by the US Navy and
operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
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Smith knows of five whale corpses off the coast of southern California. One,
which he discovered by chance in 1987 and nicknamed the Grateful Dead Whale, is
the oldest and has been rotting for at least 15 years. Another was discovered by
the US Navy while searching for a stray torpedo. The other three are beached
whales that Smith sank to help his research.
The corpses teem with unusual bacteria, crabs and worms. After the flesh has
been eaten away, which takes a few months, slimy mats of bacteria coat the
bones. 鈥淭he bacteria subsist on the oils that ooze out of these bones,鈥� says
Stein.
The fat-digesting enzymes in conventional biological washing powders work
efficiently only at temperatures higher than 40 掳C. Because the seabed is so
cold鈥攁round 5 掳C鈥攖he bacteria that colonise whale corpses have
evolved unusual enzymes to digest the oils. These enzymes become more active if
warmed slightly, and Diversa鈥檚 tests suggest that they could be used for washing
clothes at 15 掳C.
So far, Smith has handed Diversa bones and tissue from three whales, and more
expeditions are planned thanks to a $300 000 grant awarded to Smith鈥檚
team last month by the US National Science Foundation.
Diversa鈥檚 scientists are now tinkering with the enzymes to make them even
more potent against fats such as palmitic acid, which is found in butter and
margarine and is responsible for some of the most stubborn stains on
clothes.
Smith says he never expected his academic work on whale decomposition to
yield any commerical spinoffs. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a good example of how, in basic science,
you don鈥檛 know where the applications will come,鈥� he says.