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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsResearchers accidentally engineer plastic-eating enzyme
TAMPA (AFP) -
Researchers in the US and Britain have accidentally engineered an enzyme which eats plastic and may eventually help solve the growing problem of plastic pollution, a study said Monday.
More than eight million tons of plastic are dumped into the world's oceans every year, and concern is mounting over this petroleum-derived product's toxic legacy on human health and the environment.
Despite recycling efforts, most plastic can persist for hundreds of years in the environment, so researchers are searching for better ways to eliminate it.
Scientists at the University of Portsmouth and the US Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory decided to focus on a naturally occurring bacterium discovered in Japan a few years ago.
Japanese researchers believe the bacterium evolved fairly recently in a waste recycling center, since plastics were not invented until the 1940s.
Known as Ideonella sakaiensis, it appears to feed exclusively on a type of plastic known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), used widely in plastic bottles.
http://www.france24.com/en/20180416-researchers-accidentally-engineer-plastic-eating-enzyme
TheDebbieDee
(11,119 posts)Only, what does the enzyme excrete as the plastic is consumed? Hopefully nothing toxic!
BigmanPigman
(51,607 posts)what goes in could come out just as bad but in a different form.
Adrahil
(13,340 posts)The article does this too, but an enzyme is not a living thing. It is a type of chemical catalyst. It does not "consume and excrete." But your actual point (as opposed to pedantry) is well taken. Plastics derived from petroleum are are polymers based on hydrocarbons.... gotta be careful there....
Baitball Blogger
(46,720 posts)procon
(15,805 posts)RandomAccess
(5,210 posts)things? Would they necessarily be plastic-free??