Wax Worm Saliva Rapidly Breaks Down Plastic Bags, Scientists Discover (theguardian.com) 32
Enzymes that rapidly break down plastic bags have been discovered in the saliva of wax worms, which are moth larvae that infest beehives. From a report: The enzymes are the first reported to break down polyethylene within hours at room temperature and could lead to cost-effective ways of recycling the plastic. The discovery came after one scientist, an amateur beekeeper, cleaned out an infested hive and found the larvae started eating holes in a plastic refuse bag. The researchers said the study showed insect saliva may be "a depository of degrading enzymes which could revolutionise [the cleanup of polluting waste]."
Polyethylene makes up 30% of all plastic production and is used in bags and other packaging that make up a significant part of worldwide plastic pollution. The only recycling at scale today uses mechanical processes and creates lower-value products. Chemical breakdown could create valuable chemicals or, with some further processing, new plastic, thereby avoiding the need for new virgin plastic made from oil. The enzymes can be easily synthesised and overcome a bottleneck in plastic degradation, the researchers said, which is the initial breaking of the polymer chains. That usually requires a lot of heating, but the enzymes work at normal temperatures, in water and at neutral pH.
Polyethylene makes up 30% of all plastic production and is used in bags and other packaging that make up a significant part of worldwide plastic pollution. The only recycling at scale today uses mechanical processes and creates lower-value products. Chemical breakdown could create valuable chemicals or, with some further processing, new plastic, thereby avoiding the need for new virgin plastic made from oil. The enzymes can be easily synthesised and overcome a bottleneck in plastic degradation, the researchers said, which is the initial breaking of the polymer chains. That usually requires a lot of heating, but the enzymes work at normal temperatures, in water and at neutral pH.
It will evolve to (Score:1)
...eat laptops. And guitars. [youtube.com]
Re: It will evolve to (Score:2)
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What does it break it down into
It's almost as if you don't know what a polymer is...
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Yeah, but polyethylene, once polymerized from ethylene, there's nothing about it that would make it specifically depolymerize into ethylene again, so it's a very important question.
I would also not expect it to be broken down into ethylene again, but rather ethanol, propanol, butanol, butanediol, or some other slightly oxidized carbonhydride.
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I would also not expect it to be broken down into ethylene again, but rather ethanol, propanol, butanol, butanediol, or some other slightly oxidized carbonhydride.
The two [cell.com] articles [nature.com] I read don't answer the question of what is produced, but the second article repeatedly says the PE is oxidized, so I think your idea is correct.
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geh..ood. Thank You!
Grey goo disaster (Score:2)
GMO sharks (Score:4, Funny)
We need to genetically modify sharks so that they can produce this enzyme and degrade the Pacific Garbage Patch. Plus, in general, it would be pretty fucking cool to genetically modify sharks.
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Re: GMO sharks (Score:1)
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i would suggest a great sea worm, that can eventually lead to the Kwisatz Haderach
We Choose Plastic Because It Doesn't Break Down (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:We Choose Plastic Because It Doesn't Break Down (Score:4, Insightful)
No, we use a lot of plastic because it is cheap.
Yes, there are applications were we want/need a robust packaging that lasts forever, but for the ubiquitous shopping bag, blister pack, etc. there is absolutely no reason to have something that will last eons.
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No, we use a lot of plastic because it is cheap.
Yes, there are applications were we want/need a robust packaging that lasts forever, but for the ubiquitous shopping bag, blister pack, etc. there is absolutely no reason to have something that will last eons.
The real trick is to take the previous bag back to the shop with you instead of throwing it away when you take the stuff out of it.
It doesn't even need to be a fancy bag: I used a single 5-cent supermarket plastic bag for over a year as an experiment. It held up just fine.
(in years 2019-2020)
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I think the original idea behind plastic shopping bags was that you would wash and reuse them. I can't remember where I read that but it wouldn't surprise me that if that was the case, it didn't take because laziness. Also a wet paper bag is a challenge with any kind of load which raises an interesting question:
" If people reused their plastic shopping bags, would they be more environmentally friendly than paper bags (killers of forests remember)? "
Of course better yet would be no shopping bags available
Re:We Choose Plastic Because It Doesn't Break Down (Score:5, Informative)
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The worms ARE loose. He found them in a beehive. They're not going to make worms, just figure out how to make the enzyme.
Not to mention if the worms do get loose we'll just release snakes to eat the worms.
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Yeah, probably a different formulation of plastic. I can't recall the name of one of the first common plastic wraps, but it had to be removed from service because something ate it. In the '60's maybe?
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Cellophane is quite biodegradable, it degrades in a matter of weeks if you leave it outside.
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Note that the article mentions chemical synthesis. It's unlikely that waxworms will extend beyond their current habitat (bee hives, etc.).
more efficient source (Score:4, Funny)
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+1 funny, tbh...
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I have salivary glands, Walt. Can you milk me?
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Reminds me a bit of this Skittles commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Are there no citizen scientists out there! (Score:2)
for 50 years we've had this plastic problem but they never put two and two together.
The bees! (Score:1)