Plastic-eating bacteria have already evolved to eat our PET bottles and spread through global oceans
Posted by freedomforall 3 days ago to Science
Excerpt:
"ScienceDirect
A large-scale global study by scientists at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) revealed that these marine microbes are widespread and genetically prepared to consume polyethylene terephthalate (PET) — the tough plastic used in everyday items like drink bottles and fabrics.
For decades, scientists believed PET was almost impossible to degrade naturally. That belief began to shift in 2016, when a bacterium discovered in a Japanese recycling plant was found to survive by consuming plastic waste. It had developed a PETase enzyme capable of dismantling plastic polymers into their building blocks.
Yet it remained unclear whether oceanic microbes had developed similar enzymes independently.
Using a combination of artificial intelligence modeling, genetic screening, and laboratory testing, Duarte and his team confirmed that the M5 motif distinguishes true PET-degrading enzymes from inactive look-alikes. In experiments, marine bacteria carrying the complete M5 motif efficiently broke down PET samples. Genetic activity maps showed that M5-PETase genes are highly active throughout the oceans, especially in areas heavily polluted with plastic."
"ScienceDirect
A large-scale global study by scientists at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) revealed that these marine microbes are widespread and genetically prepared to consume polyethylene terephthalate (PET) — the tough plastic used in everyday items like drink bottles and fabrics.
For decades, scientists believed PET was almost impossible to degrade naturally. That belief began to shift in 2016, when a bacterium discovered in a Japanese recycling plant was found to survive by consuming plastic waste. It had developed a PETase enzyme capable of dismantling plastic polymers into their building blocks.
Yet it remained unclear whether oceanic microbes had developed similar enzymes independently.
Using a combination of artificial intelligence modeling, genetic screening, and laboratory testing, Duarte and his team confirmed that the M5 motif distinguishes true PET-degrading enzymes from inactive look-alikes. In experiments, marine bacteria carrying the complete M5 motif efficiently broke down PET samples. Genetic activity maps showed that M5-PETase genes are highly active throughout the oceans, especially in areas heavily polluted with plastic."
I used to say a plastic bottle tossed out a car window may be unsightly, but it has no more impact on the planet than a rock. Now it seems it has a far less impact than a rock.
Or you can be worried about the spread of plastics in the oceans and Asian rivers.
Now we have some good news on this. Jo Nova reports that ocean bacteria is evolving to breakdown the plastics.
Life grows on energy.