Complex Numbers

Just One Word: Plastics

Not a lot to add to this one, just some interesting science.

Bugs across globe are evolving to eat plastic, study finds  
Surprising discovery shows scale of plastic pollution and reveals enzymes that could boost recycling

Because I did an entry about the Pacific Garbage Patch a few days ago ("Garbage Patch Kids" ), this article (which I only found after doing that entry) caught my eye.

Microbes in oceans and soils across the globe are evolving to eat plastic, according to a study.

Just for the record, that's an excellent lede. Concise, accurate (as opposed to the "bugs" in the headline), and gets right to the point. Of course there's more, which is why there's an article, but I do appreciate a good lede.

The study is the first large-scale global assessment of the plastic-degrading potential of bacteria and found that one in four of the organisms analysed carried a suitable enzyme. The researchers found that the number and type of enzymes they discovered matched the amount and type of plastic pollution in different locations.

This should not be too shocking. It's in line with how we know evolution works. If one "bug" has the enzyme and another doesn't, then the second bug, after ingesting plastic, has a higher chance of dying, so the first bug has a higher chance of reproductive success.

The truly amazing thing is that these microbes had the potential to create the appropriate enzyme in the first place. That's what's unexpected from my point of view. These plastics aren't generally from non-manufactured sources.

Reducing the amount of plastic used is vital, as is the proper collection and treatment of waste.

Not if we have mutant microbes to eat it! We're saved! Use ALL the plastic!

The new research provides many new enzymes to be investigated and adapted for industrial use.

In other words, the really useful thing here is being able to replicate these enzymes, not that we can unleash hordes of plastic-eating archaea.

Importantly, the researchers ruled out potential false positives by comparing the enzymes initially identified with enzymes from the human gut, which is not known to have any plastic-degrading enzymes.

...yet.

Another mutant enzyme was created in 2020 by the company Carbios that breaks down plastic bottles for recycling in hours.

Don't these people read science fiction? Sheesh.