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Fighting Nerve Agent Chemical Weapons with Enzyme Technology
Author(s) -
LEJEUNE KEITH E.,
DRAVIS BRYAN C.,
YANG FANGXIAO,
HETRO AMY D.,
DOCTOR BHUPENDRA P.,
RUSSELL ALAN J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb10298.x
Subject(s) - nerve agent , chemical warfare , chemical agents , chemical warfare agents , chemistry , biochemical engineering , nanotechnology , enzyme , materials science , biology , engineering , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , acetylcholinesterase
A bstract : The extreme toxicity of organophosphorous‐based compounds has been known since the late 1930s. Starting in the mid‐1940s, many nations throughout the world have been producing large quantities of organophosphorous (OP) nerve agents. Huge stockpiles of nerve agents have since developed. There are reportedly more than 200,000 tons of nerve agents in existence worldwide. There is an obvious need for protective clothing capable of guarding an individual from exposure to OP chemical weapons. Also, chemical processes that can effectively demilitarize and detoxify stored nerve agents are in great demand. The new and widely publicized Chemical Weapons Treaty requires such processes to soon be in place throughout the world. Biotechnology may provide the tools necessary to make such processes not only possible, but quite efficient in reducing the nerve agent dilemma. The following paper discusses some of the history in developing enzyme technology against nerve agents. Our laboratory has interest in enhancing the productivity and potential utility of these systems in both demilitarization and decontamination applications. Freeze‐dried nerve agent‐hydrolyzing enzyme preparations have been shown to be effective in decontaminating gaseous nerve agents. The direct incorporation of nerve agent‐hydrolyzing enzymes within cross‐linked polyurethane foam matrices during polymer synthesis has been shown to dramatically enhance the productivity of two different enzyme systems. The future goal of such work lies in building a bridge between the clinical application of nerve agent‐hydrolyzing enzymes and practical processing techniques that may take advantage of the initial results already achieved in the laboratory.