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.
What's your point? We're talking about a hypothetical.
The article talks about a microbe that already exists in the wild.
I'm not referring to this article - I'm referring to the general case of plastic-eating microbes. Plastic eating organisms are not new. Even certain types of mealworms will eat styrofoam... Articles like these are published several times a year, but I don't think I've seen any studies on the potential impact. This article mentions it, but there are no accompanying references. http://theconversation.com/how-plastic-ea…
They are probably as dangerous as silverfish to your book collection.
Have there been studies about the dangers of these types of microbes spreading out into the "wild"?
As a lay person, I currently get the distinct impression that polymer-digesting microbes are not currently considered dangerous, with the current impacts being negligible. What kind of dangers and impacts would you like to see studied?
> I currently get the distinct impression that polymer-digesting microbes are not currently considered dangerous, with the current impacts being negligible.
Well, you've just answered it. I would like to know the scientific rationale for this or an opposing belief. I currently have no opinion on the matter because I haven't read any material to think about in any way other than "these things exist".
(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!
As a basic analogy, think of it like human metabolism burning fat vs. carbohydrates. Fat is much more energy dense, but until you starve the body of carbohydrates, your body won't burn it. This pathway likely exists as a "backup" metabolic system so that in the absence of easy-to-digest feedstocks, the microbe can still live, but at an energetic cost.
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.
Sure they do, it's a major repair bill for many people. If we wind up with critical infrastructure that was previously stable randomly rotting, it will likely disrupt our current uptime rates, require expensive preventative measures and repairs, and in the end limit access to services due to the added costs. The dangers of hidden rot to electrical lines in buildings is one of the scariest possibilities.
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.
Water, gas, sewage, electricity and telecom lines are conducted/coated with PET. You would weep.
you sir have won the understatement of the thread award.
i'd literally be flooded with shit if something ate my plumbing, which likely means dead. that is, unless the isolation of electric cabling wouldn't burn me alive first.
weep isn't really on the TODO list in that scenario. covid is peanuts in comparison.
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.
Thats because the wood is treated with lots of chemicals. We would need to start treating plastics with these chemicals, creating potentially toxic plastics, which is not a good thing because it is very hard to test chemicals for toxicity and much of our food is stored in plastics.
Is 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.
A bactery that eat oil and you have the movie mad max
There are cureently bacteria that eat diesel/gasoline, which is why if you leave either in your vehicle tank for a long period (1-6 months) , you shoud to siphon it out and replace it.
Thats because the wood is treated with lots of chemicals. We would need to start treating plastics with these chemicals, creating potentially toxic plastics, which is not a good thing because it is very hard to test chemicals for toxicity and much of our food is stored in plastics.
Most of the wood used in house construction is not treated with anything. Only the stuff that touches soil, foundations, or is exposed to elements is. Unless you use real wood siding, that’ll be less than 5% of all lumber used. It doesnt decay, because it’s kept dry, and microorganisms arent very good at decomposing dry wood.
Breaking down plastic waste sounds great, except it almost certainly releases CO2. Leaving it in a landfill is probably the better option.
Granted, if they could turn these plastics into some sort of biofuel it would be a much different story. Better to convert the waste we already have then pump more oil. It's unclear whether that is a byproduct of this microbe.