Plastic-Eating Bacteria Could Help Clean Up Waste (inhabitat.com)

Kristine Lofgren writes: Japanese researchers have discovered a microorganism that literally devours ocean-clogging plastic. The bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis can completely break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a common plastic used in bottles and containers. That type of plastic makes up a huge proportion of all the plastic waste in the world, particularly in the ocean. The bacterium uses a pair of enzymes to break down PET and turn it into a food source. The problem is, it takes up to six weeks for the bacterium to completely breakdown a small, low-grade sample of PET. Microbiologist Kohei Oda of the Kyoto Institute of Technology co-authored the study published this week in the journal Science, and he told PBS NewsHour he was "very surprised to find microorganisms that degrade PET" because the plastic has always been thought to be non-biodegradable. Now, scientists just need to figure out how to harness the hungry little bug to recycle plastic and reduce pollution.

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And then...

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

"...And then it mutated and ate all the plastic in the world," said Og, as he threw another stick on the fire, huddling in the ash gray wasteland that used to be New York.

"The scientists said it was 'totally safe' and 'nothing could go wrong'," Og continued, "but you kids don't remember that because that was back when we had electricity and people talked into little boxes they carried in their pockets."

The children all laughed at Og, he always told the biggest lies because he was so old (almost 30!) and so his stories could not be believed.

"What's a 'sy-en-tiss'?" whispered Janey.

"They were the people that knew stuff and made the world run." Og said.

The children laughed again, "No one makes the word run, silly!" they hooted.