Companies have attempted to isolate a bacterial protein-degrading enzyme from soil that could survive a complete cycle in a clothes washer. The companies had to learn how to grow these organisms under conditions that simulated a washing machine full of water and detergent. Why? Scientists reasoned that if the organisms could survive and grow under these conditions then the enzymes inside them could survive these conditions. List all of the conditions that this enzyme would have to be able to survive to work in a washing machine. Design a procedure for how this organism might be isolated.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Many answers exist to this question, and it might be a good one for
group work. Students should list all the conditions that an enzyme found
in a detergent would have to survive: being in a detergent; sitting on a
shelf in a grocery store; and a washing machine with diff erent water
temperatures and agitation cycles. Of course, the microorganism would
not have to survive this treatment, but if it did, that would probably mean
the enzymes in the microorganism survived the wash cycle.