Teen Discovers Plastic-Decomposing Bacteria

ganelo writes to tell us that 16-year-old Waterloo Collegiate Institute student Danel Burd has made quite a stir with his plastic-eating bacteria discovery. For his efforts Burd won top prize at a Canada-wide science fair claiming a $10,000 prize and a $20,000 scholarship. "Tests to identify the strains found strain two was Sphingomonas bacteria and the helper was Pseudomonas. A researcher in Ireland has found Pseudomonas is capable of degrading polystyrene, but as far as Burd and his teacher Mark Menhennet know -- and they've looked -- Burd's research on polyethelene plastic bags is a first."

Comments

Absolutely Beautiful

[Walter Wart]

It was kitchen table science done by himself with no budget, no grant and no assistants. You aren't supposed to be able to do Real Science(tm) like that anymore. So how did the kid do it?

1. He thought a of a simple problem that hadn't been solved
2. He investigated the obvious avenues first
3. He used the resources at his disposal instead of trying
4. He chose something where success and failure would both be easy to demonstrate

This was really good science. If he keeps it up look for his name with the words "Full Professor" in front and a list of patents afterwards some time soon.

Re:Absolutely Beautiful

[David Gerard]

"Chance favours the prepared mind" - Louis Pasteur.

Unintended consequences

[Starvingboy]

I can't help but wonder about untindended consequences. Looking around at all the plastics, having them inadventantly eaten by bacteria would be a BAD thing.