A closer look
Textbooks usually describe enzymes as highly specific locks that only accept one perfectly shaped molecular key, but enzymes are actually incredibly promiscuous. When synthetic nylon was dumped into ponds in the 1970s, scientists discovered a strain of Flavobacterium that suddenly knew how to eat it. It turned out a preexisting enzyme had a sloppy, accidental side-hustle that randomly happened to break down nylon bonds, proving that biological evolution heavily relies on molecules being delightfully bad at their primary jobs.
