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Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles

phys.org

51–59 of 59 posts

Re: Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles

#51

Sounds like a great discovery until you get to the end of the article > Mincer said the study was impressive and did a good job showing that these organisms were eating the plastic pretty well. > However, he said it was not immediately clear whether or not it would help keep plastics out of the ocean, for example. "When I think it through, I don't really know where it gets us," he said. " >I don't see how microbes de…

> I don't see how microbes degrading plastics is any better than putting plastic bottles in a recycling bin so they can be melted down to make new ones."

You don't have to waste money and energy sorting bottles out of the trash if you can just dump a bunch of this bacteria in your landfill.

Re: Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles

#52
post #34

From another article on the same topic[1]: >The Kyoto researchers identified the gene in the bacteria's DNA that is responsible for the PET-digesting enzyme. They then were able to manufacture more of the enzyme and then demonstrate that PET could be broken down with the enzyme alone. Sounds like this is quite a big step forward in our ability to reduce plastics to more base elements. Has anyone caught what the exact…

Well if these genes exist somewhere, and we commercialize them. Is it not a matter of time until these genes become more common in bacteria in general and then we can no longer use plastics, I guess then we would have to put some antibacterial in plastics too. Like say a long time period.

The sense I have from working in environmental microbiology is absolutely not. There simply isn't that strong of a selective pressure for the degradation of plastics, especially because (a) plastics are incredibly rare compared to other microbial food sources, even in "plastic rich" places like the pacific garbage patch, and (b) it isn't clear that there is any energy advantage for producing this enzyme in most environments- I'm not even sure the end products of the reaction are used in energy production or assimilation at all. Thirdly, even if plastics were abundant and this pathway did provide a useful source of energy, it is almost certainly not as energy efficient as the common enormously successful microbial pathways for energy production and catabolism that exist when their reactants are in high abundance. Fourthly, I'm fairly sure the reaction rate is slow enough that degradation of macroscale plastics would only occur in concentrated bacterial cultures or when exposed to concentrated stock enzyme. Your iPhone case would never be at risk- I also highly, highly doubt that macroscale degradation could occur due to naturally produced enzyme alone even in soil and ocean environments, where there is rich microbial life. Fifthly, because it is a naturally occurring degradation pathway, if there were any significant evolutionary advantages these gene products would already be widespread in the microbial ocean or soil environments.

Essentially, I am almost certain that the risk of using concentrated enzyme to remove micro or milli scale environmental plastics, or even seeding local sites with cultures producing this enzyme, are 0. In reality, I don't think that there would be many plans to use this outside of bioreactors, and best case scenario it could clean up local environmental microplastics!

Re: Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles

#53
post #34

From another article on the same topic[1]: >The Kyoto researchers identified the gene in the bacteria's DNA that is responsible for the PET-digesting enzyme. They then were able to manufacture more of the enzyme and then demonstrate that PET could be broken down with the enzyme alone. Sounds like this is quite a big step forward in our ability to reduce plastics to more base elements. Has anyone caught what the exact…

Well if these genes exist somewhere, and we commercialize them. Is it not a matter of time until these genes become more common in bacteria in general and then we can no longer use plastics, I guess then we would have to put some antibacterial in plastics too. Like say a long time period.

  > I guess then we would have to put some antibacterial in plastics too.
Maybe. It's not like plastic products have a particularly long lifetime anyway, there are plenty of things that degrade them (like sun).

So as long as the bacteria doesn't act super-quickly, I think we'll be ok.

Re: Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles

#54
> Mincer said: "I don't see how microbes degrading plastics is any better than putting plastic bottles in a recycling bin so they can be melted down to make new ones."

How it's better is that recycling is really just downcycling. Recycled plastics are of worse quality and are put to inferior uses. Plastic bottles that are recycled are not only melted but also shredded. Over multiple recyclings, the shredding reduces the molecular length and therefore qualities like tensile strength. The mixing of different plastics also degrades quality.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downcycling

So then this bacterial approach provides a potential exit path for plastic that has been recycled too many times to be of any decent use any more.

It sounds like these particular bacteria do a better job of breaking down plastic than what happens to "biodegradable" plastic when it is left out in the elements namely turning into "plastic dust" that hangs around.

Re: Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles

#55

Anyone else concerned that by helping this new bacteria thrive it will set off a series of unforeseen side effects?

My username is a reference to Project Wildfire from "The Andromeda Strain". In the novel, Andromeda mutates into something that can consume rubber -- the same materials used throughout the world as seals against contagion. So, yeah, if life imitates art it could get pretty interesting.

Can't forget this classic work of speculative fiction either: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2368220.Mutant_59

In the Coburg Street control room of the London Underground system, there was a full emergency... In a dozen tunnels, trains ground down to a halt. Hordes of terrified commuters made their way anxiously along dark, musty tunnels to the lights and safety of the next station. There were minor explosions, fires, and the failure of a million wires and cables. As the dissolution of plastic proceeded and accelerated in rate, the elegant order of the system gradually turned into complete chaos...

Re: Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My username is a reference to Project Wildfire from "The Andromeda Strain". In the novel, Andromeda mutates into something that can consume rubber -- the same materials used throughout the world as seals against contagion. So, yeah, if life imitates art it could get pretty interesting.

Can't forget this classic work of speculative fiction either: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2368220.Mutant_59 In the Coburg Street control room of the London Underground system, there was a full emergency... In a dozen tunnels, trains ground down to a halt. Hordes of terrified commuters made their way anxiously along dark, musty tunnels to the lights and safety of the next station. There were minor explosions, f…

I'm glad I'm not the only person who remembers that one.

Re: Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles

#58

I'm a bit confused. In the article it has these 2 statements: > "...enzyme breaks it down even further, providing the bacteria with carbon and energy to grow." > "I don't see how microbes degrading plastics is any better than putting plastic bottles in a recycling bin so they can be melted down to make new ones." Is it degrading it to basic elements such as carbon, or is the bacteria just breaking the plastic down in…

According to another piece I saw on this [0], the reaction products are ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. Both of those are useful industrial chemicals, though not things you'd want to eat yourself. ETA: The Gizmag article characterizes these chemicals as "environmentally harmless", which might be a slight exaggeration. I wouldn't be surprised if terephthalic acid turned out to be an endocrine disruptor, given i…

Here is a recent study showing estrogenic effect from terephthalic acid (TPA)

http://m.carcin.oxfordjournals.org/content/36/1/168

Re: Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles

#59
post #51

Sounds like a great discovery until you get to the end of the article > Mincer said the study was impressive and did a good job showing that these organisms were eating the plastic pretty well. > However, he said it was not immediately clear whether or not it would help keep plastics out of the ocean, for example. "When I think it through, I don't really know where it gets us," he said. " >I don't see how microbes de…

> I don't see how microbes degrading plastics is any better than putting plastic bottles in a recycling bin so they can be melted down to make new ones." You don't have to waste money and energy sorting bottles out of the trash if you can just dump a bunch of this bacteria in your landfill.

The comment you are responding was what the scientists in the article concluded, not something I was saying.
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