[lucb1e]

I find the current title much more clear than requiring that people know what PET is.

And if you're familiar enough to know what plastic types exist, you probably also realize that this won't be a miracle protein that can tackle a ton of different chemicals with this one innovation/advancement.

Unless you're a chemical engineer, I can't think of a place where anyone would need to know what PET is. Bottle returns don't have different holes based on the recycling type, I can even throw glass and cans in with plastic bottles and it'll scan the label and sort it out. For me, I might have made a tentative guess that PET is used in bottles, and my dad inspects factories that produce that stuff and so it's not like I had no exposure to it (just no interest in the myriad of plastics we're trying to avoid)

[dang]

I tried "Scientists create protein that can degrade a common plastic in bottles" as well but I think it's ok to say "PET" even if few people know what it is. It's implicit that it's (a) not all plastics and (b) the article will say what it is.

[bell-cot]

Okay - "Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade a very common type of plastic".

[Filligree]

Anyone who uses 3D printers would need to know what PET is, not to mention half a dozen other plastics. ;-)

PLA is usually the go-to; it's ideal in nearly every respect except cost, especially its modern formulations. But PETG is still often used for its heat resistance, Polycarbonate is great for physical strength, ASA is lovely for outdoors work, ABS is still the cheapest option... and some people are crazy enough to print Nylon.