I doubt this will ever compete with power generation from incineration. Most plastics are recycled into power and smoke.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/03/shoul...
Scientists identify microbe that could help degrade polyurethane-based plastics
41–50 of 77 posts
Re: Scientists identify microbe that could help degrade polyurethane-based plastics
#42Is anyone else concerned about the effects this could have if it managed to get out of containment and into the wild? A self-replicating bacteria that eats plastics sounds like a potentially catastrophic event, considering how much we use them in day to day life.
I once read a sci-fi book that featured a metal eating organism that was released as a weapon.
Yeah, whenever humans engineer something to fix something else we've broken in the complex system that is earth, it seems like there's a high chance of it messing other stuff up and itself becoming a problem.
Re: Scientists identify microbe that could help degrade polyurethane-based plastics
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
We use too much plastic, too casually, wastefully, with eventual results of microplastic and carbon release into the atmosphere. I would not weep in the least if this stuff blew around world-over and forced us to change our behaviour.
Some usages of plastics are essential. What about in medicine for example?
Right, exactly. A runaway bacterium that ate medical equipment, electronic equipment, industrial equipment, vehicles, food packaging... that would be a Bad Thing. It would mean an end to much of the modern world.
I'm reminded of a reddit discussion on how awful it would be if a coronal mass ejection event destroyed all electronics on Earth. They were lamenting how tragic the loss of Netflix would be given the current lock-down, oblivious to that it would presumably result in society collapsing, with millions or billions dying in the ensuing famine.
Re: Scientists identify microbe that could help degrade polyurethane-based plastics
#44Is anyone else concerned about the effects this could have if it managed to get out of containment and into the wild? A self-replicating bacteria that eats plastics sounds like a potentially catastrophic event, considering how much we use them in day to day life.
We use too much plastic, too casually, wastefully, with eventual results of microplastic and carbon release into the atmosphere. I would not weep in the least if this stuff blew around world-over and forced us to change our behaviour.
It would be wasteful to have to replace almost all vehicles, appliances, computers, and so on.
Re: Scientists identify microbe that could help degrade polyurethane-based plastics
#45These microbes are surprisingly hard to scale up i.e. to make them work on large amounts of product at a time. (My wife did research on such bugs for a while). All sorts of things start happening once you have a lot of them, and the process becomes incredibly tricky to keep going.
Do they get fat and lazy? [Maybe we should invent Netflix for microbes, then]
In a sense. They're highly specialized organisms with relatively inefficient metabolisms. They do great in an environment filled with just them and their food. But in an environment filled with other organic material (like their own bodies) they get outcompeted pretty badly by more conventional microbes.
Re: Scientists identify microbe that could help degrade polyurethane-based plastics
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do they get fat and lazy? [Maybe we should invent Netflix for microbes, then]
(Paraphrasing because of my limited understanding of what my wife did) The biological pathway that makes them eat plastic is pretty card to keep activated. It's not a very profitable pathway, so the bugs tend to try eating other stuff if there is even a little available, or they are even a little outside the optimal range for eating plastic.
Interesting stuff, would love to hear more intuition about why this is difficult. Is it just that we haven't found an economical pathway for metabolizing plastics, or is there a fundamental reason why one should not exist?
Hydrocarbons have an energy density 2-3x higher than glucose, so naively it seems like there should be a profitable metabolic pathway!
Re: Scientists identify microbe that could help degrade polyurethane-based plastics
#47Is anyone else concerned about the effects this could have if it managed to get out of containment and into the wild? A self-replicating bacteria that eats plastics sounds like a potentially catastrophic event, considering how much we use them in day to day life.
grey goo scenario :)
Re: Scientists identify microbe that could help degrade polyurethane-based plastics
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
(Paraphrasing because of my limited understanding of what my wife did) The biological pathway that makes them eat plastic is pretty card to keep activated. It's not a very profitable pathway, so the bugs tend to try eating other stuff if there is even a little available, or they are even a little outside the optimal range for eating plastic.
Interesting stuff, would love to hear more intuition about why this is difficult. Is it just that we haven't found an economical pathway for metabolizing plastics, or is there a fundamental reason why one should not exist? Hydrocarbons have an energy density 2-3x higher than glucose, so naively it seems like there should be a profitable metabolic pathway!
Hydrocarbons are extremely stable, which means it requires a large energy input to break them up.
The article doesn't go into a lot of detail, but my guess is that the bacteria can break up the carbamate links.
Re: Scientists identify microbe that could help degrade polyurethane-based plastics
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do they get fat and lazy? [Maybe we should invent Netflix for microbes, then]
(Paraphrasing because of my limited understanding of what my wife did) The biological pathway that makes them eat plastic is pretty card to keep activated. It's not a very profitable pathway, so the bugs tend to try eating other stuff if there is even a little available, or they are even a little outside the optimal range for eating plastic.
Wonder if CRISPR or similar could be used to knock out regular metabolism pathways. Seems like they'd be understood enough to do so effectively.
Re: Scientists identify microbe that could help degrade polyurethane-based plastics
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some usages of plastics are essential. What about in medicine for example?
Right, exactly. A runaway bacterium that ate medical equipment, electronic equipment, industrial equipment, vehicles, food packaging... that would be a Bad Thing. It would mean an end to much of the modern world. I'm reminded of a reddit discussion on how awful it would be if a coronal mass ejection event destroyed all electronics on Earth. They were lamenting how tragic the loss of Netflix would be given the current…
Bacteria fail to eat our organic wooden houses.