Scientists at the University of York have won a United States government award for pioneering research into cleaning up military pollution.

Researchers at the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, (CNAP) based in the Department of Biology at the university, have discovered microbial enzymes that break down certain types of explosives and have genetically engineered plants that can remove pollution left by exploded explosives in the soil of military training ranges.

The York team, working with an American team from the University of Washington, gained the Project Of The Year award from the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) of the US Department of Defense.