Yay, now we can have micro-micro-micro plastics. I am sure nothing could possibly go wrong.
Archive: https://archive.today/QLUhK
From the post:
>Plastics are great, except when it comes to making or disposing of them. Production generally requires the use of chemicals derived from fossil fuels, and so helps to continue our reliance on them. And the final products are generally not biodegradable, so they tend to stick around despite breaking down into ever smaller fragments. Biology might ultimately provide a solution, however. Researchers have identified bacteria that evolved the ability to digest some plastics. And improvements in our ability to design proteins have allowed us to make new enzymes that can chew up plastics.
Of course they did. They need bacteria to create plastic to feed the bacteria that eats plastic.
https://interestingengineering.com/science/bacteria-fungi-capable-breaking-down-plastics
The instrument industry is making "carbon fiber" instruments that are resistant to degradation in landfills.
The quote leaves out the relevant third paragraph about actually producing plastic:
This week brings some progress on the other side of the equation, with a team of Korean researchers describing how they've engineered a bacterial strain that can make a useful polymer starting with nothing but glucose as fuel. The system they developed is based on an enzyme that the bacteria use when they're facing unusual nutritional conditions, and it can be tweaked to make a wide range of polymers.
Very interesting
