Plastic-Eating Bacteria Could Combat Pollution Problems, Scientists Hope (msn.com)
- Reference: 0175194641
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/05/0634209/plastic-eating-bacteria-could-combat-pollution-problems-scientists-hope
- Source link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/plastic-eating-bacteria-could-combat-pollution-problems-scientists-hope/ar-AA1rFHUB
> In a [2]study published Thursday in Environmental Science and Technology, scientists laid out their examination of Comamonas testosteroni , a bacteria that grows on polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, a plastic commonly found in single-use food packaging and water bottles. PET makes up about 12 percent of global solid waste and [3]90 million tons of the plastic produced each year... Unlike most other bacteria, which thrive on sugar, C. testosteroni has a more refined palate, including chemically complex materials from plants and plastics that take longer to decompose.
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> The researchers are the first to demonstrate not only that this bacteria can break down plastic, but they also illuminate exactly how they do it. Through six meticulous steps, involving complex imaging and gene editing techniques, the authors found that the bacteria first physically break down plastic by chewing it into smaller pieces. Then, they release enzymes — components of a cell that speed up chemical reactions — to chemically break down the plastic into a carbon-rich food source known as terephthalate...
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> The bacteria take a few months to break down chunks of plastic, according to Rebecca Wilkes [a lead author on the study and postdoctoral researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory]. As a result, if the bacteria are going to be efficient tools, a lot of optimization needs to take place to speed up the rate at which they decompose pollutants. One approach is to promote bacterial growth by providing them with an additional food source, such as a chemical known as acetate.
A senior author on the study (and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University) tells the Washington Post that "The machinery in environmental microbes is still a largely untapped potential for uncovering sustainable solutions we can exploit."
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/plastic-eating-bacteria-could-combat-pollution-problems-scientists-hope/ar-AA1rFHUB
[2] https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.4c06645
[3] https://www.nrel.gov/news/program/2021/researchers-engineer-microorganisms-to-tackle-pet-plastic-pollution.html
Plastic munchy microbes. Hmmm... (Score:1)
So, when the plastic parts of something start to crumble, we at least know why. The microbes would never reach space station bits, airplane parts, or seals for something toxic AF, or other, worser, ungood scenarios. Nope, never happen, can't do that, we're safe, nothing can go wrong! Comforting, huh?
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Wait until they get onto your EV.. Or house..
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People tend to have a lot of trouble keeping bacteria from getting into places where they are not supposed to be. So someone could end up unknowingly treading this stuff into their home which most likely than not is full of plastic. And don't forget supermarkets where unwanted degradation of plastic wrap and containers would be a very bad thing.
Mutant 59! (Score:3)
They're making [1]Mutant 59: the Plastic Eaters [amazon.com]!
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Mutant-59-Plastic-Eaters-Kit-Pedler/dp/B000ZKSHGO
Comamonas testosteroni (Score:2)
I figure this is Latin for common testosterone. We will cultivate it by extraction of the feedstock from common horny young men.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
"Comamonas testosteroni is a Gram-negative environmental bacterium capable of utilizing testosterone as a carbon source"
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comamonas_testosteroni
Where'd my lawn chairs do? (Score:1)
There's no way this stuff will get loose and ruin anything.
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Everything made of PETE -- aside from things like beverage bottles, your polyester fleece clothing, some car upholstery, parts of some solar panels.
The question I have, is how would we actually use this thing? Would we inoculate landfills and let the C testosteroni eat up the plastic in them that's PETE? Even though that's just 12% of the plastic there, that's a big concentration of a naturally rare and exotic bacteria -- one that has pathogenic potential in people, albeit mild and presently just immunoc
Maybe we just need to learn how to make the enzyme (Score:3)
Bacteria are notoriously difficult to control in an open environment. If we can synthesize the enzymes they use to break down microplastics, we can control the process and prevent bacteria from getting loose in the wild (any moreso than they will already).
Genetic Engineering (Score:2)
You'd think they'd be editing the genes of these things to make them bigger to eat bigger pieces of plastic, maybe speed up how they eat and digest.
No! (Score:2)
Please don't leave me, [1]my love [cutesexdoll.com].
[1] https://www.cutesexdoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/IMG_0070-scaled.jpg
Just wondering (Score:2)
Do the bacteria then release CO2, either while they're still alive or after they die? If so, how much of it can be captured and withheld from the atmosphere?
It would be cool to have a way of getting rid of that plastic, so long as it's at least carbon neutral. To be clear, I'm referring to real neutrality, not the 'carbon credit' kind.
Someone should write a book or something (Score:2)
.. After all, what could go wrong? [1]https://www.amazon.com/Melt-10... [amazon.com]
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Melt-10-book-series/dp/B07PNKNBCT?dplnkId=871e4c29-d7e0-46ad-b121-c5177b69ea4a
I've Always Maintained Separating Plastics is Bad (Score:2)
I've always thought and said to friends that nature, especially bacteria, is really good at figuring out how to adapt. I think separating plastics out of organic garbage is the worst way to solve the problem. If we keep it mixed in with organic matter and the bacteria that it's full of, I've always thought that the speed and way bacteria evolves, something would eventually start eating all the plastic. And providing a fertile environment around the plastic is the only way that could happen, rather than putt
What is the bacterial waste.. (Score:2)
...and what will the bacteria eat if there's no more plastic around?
Italian hormone (Score:2)
I wonder if consume the bacteria and chase it with a little plastic could I put on some muscle mass?
New problem vs solution to old one? (Score:2)
I for one fear that instead of finding a solution (plastics) we create a new problem (bacteria).
Given what an energy-dense food plastic is... (Score:4, Interesting)
... it was bound to happen anyway that microbes would evolve to use it as a food source. Plastic garbage may be a terrible look on land and sea for the next hundred years, but at some point that stuff will get eaten quicker than the owners of still-in-use plastic products may like. Just as with wood, there will be a time when scientists will be tasked to defend plastic against the onslaught of microbes that want to eat it, rather than trying to make it edible.
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The situation will probably be then like it is with wood today: Toxic chemicals will be used to deter the potential eaters from plastic stuff that is exposed to nature for prolonged periods of time. Not great, but acceptable if properly regulated with regards to environmental pollution.
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don't worry, it's just the Andromeda Strain all over again ...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andromeda_Strain
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> Going to need ** A LOT ** of bacteria to eat 90 million tons of plastic.
Not really a lot, when you compare this with the amount of other biomass currently eaten by bacteria. About 1kg of which already lives inside your guts, without harming you.
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yeah or you know... just the one?