On January 7, 2025, Rachel Narehood Austin, Diana T. and P. Roy Vagelos Professor of Chemistry, co-authored new research in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, alongside research assistant Lauren Hendricks (CU GS '23) and collaborators Tierani Green ’24, Lily Kunczynski ’25, August Jaunzarins Roberts ’25, Naomi Miller ’27, and Noga Rafalin ’27.
The paper, titled “Fontimonas thermophila Alkane Monooxygenase (FtAlkB) Is an Alkyl Fluoride Dehalogenase,” explores the discovery of a special enzyme that can remove fluorine from a chemical, turning it into other useful substances. This enzyme, FtAlkB, only works on certain fluorine-containing chemicals and doesn’t affect similar ones with chlorine or bromine. The researchers also found that some bacteria can use this process to survive, using these fluorine-containing chemicals as their only food. This discovery has the potential to create more effective ways to clean up pollution.