Comments at a glance: Boy discovers microbe that eats plastic
MNN readers speak out on the good, the bad, and the absurd of this discovery
- Posted By Anonymous - Fri, Jun 12 2009 at 9:18 AM EST: Simply Amazing
- Posted By Alysa - Fri, Jun 12 2009 at 9:57 AM EST: Wow
Plus the fact an unfunded 16 year old did this in his home is inspiring. Kinda makes you wonder what scientists and scholars have been doing all this time.
- Posted By Anonymous - Sun, Jun 14 2009 at 7:37 AM EST: Why?
- Posted By Laniius - Sat, Jun 13 2009 at 7:28 AM EST: Recycling plastic
- Posted By Anonymous - Sun, Jun 14 2009 at 10:33 AM EST: Consensus has turned against biodegradable plastic
- Posted By Anonymous - Thu, Jun 18 2009 at 12:48 PM EST: A win, win scenario
We then have a win/win situation. But again, there needs to be more studies to make sure the microbes don't get out of hand and consume plastic that is still in use, or a way to control its vast appetite and contain the spreading to environmentally favorable substances.
- Posted By Andrew - Wed, Jun 17 2009 at 5:18 PM EST: Usefulness of Plastics
- Posted By Anonymous - Wed, Jun 17 2009 at 6:58 PM EST: Useful AND Useless Plastics
- Posted By $teve H - Wed, Jun 17 2009 at 7:06 PM EST: Try to explain “useful” and “useless” to the bacteria
- Posted By Anonymous - Wed, Jun 24 2009 at 9:28 AM EST: This boy should have talked to me first.
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Comments
i onkly wanted to add " what is the byproduct of these microbes, and what are the chemical, biological/organic contents of these by products. for in saving us from plastics, the chemical/organic reaction and by products of these increased prototypes of the said microbes could maybe, and i repeat- maybe become even more detrimental to the humn race than the decomposed plastic itself. if we could detect this, then this maybe be a wonderful idea even though the discovery in itself without the.... More
hip..hip to the'BOY'!..HE definitely has posed to himself:::
in this universe all matter is indestructible but only changes form given the right environment.
so what i came across is the right trigger ..now let me recap!! given this type,size of plastic in these given set of 5 elements[water,fire,space,earth[material]and air[gases present/created in the process] the matter in the form of this plastic is changing form to this bacteria and some waste.
right how to control this.... More
I believe that this is indeed a really good find and could be helpful in creating a cleaner future, but on the other hand this could potentially be hazardous. If the microbes somehow started growing at an uncontrollable rate we would have a crisis on our hands, our water bottles all the way up to our cars would begin to decompose. In my opinion there needs to be an extensive study on this before it is used in the open where the microbes could possibly spread.
I pointed out to another person who asked a similar question. Bacteria out of control is Science fiction in this case. Remember this student only isolated existing bacteria he did not create a mutant deadly strain. So we all need to think this through logically. Why are you happy to use and store paper or wood yet paper and wood get decomposed every day when dumped outside. We are not worried about those bacteria taking over and destroying our dining room table or such. Why is that? .... More
In looking at the comments posted on this there are some common misconceptions. Plastics will only biodegrade in the presence of a large number of bacteria (like this student had). These conditions only exist in landfills or compost piles. They do not exist in the work place or common storage locations. Therefore plastic will not biodegrade till it is disposed of to a location rich in a lot of bacteria. We are all quite happy that paper and carboard biodegrade yet we are not concerned.... More
it doesn't matter if it is good or bad, if it's helpful or not. we sooner or later WILL HAVE TO whether we want to or not. but let's just say there was garbage everywhere, not just in the ocean or in landfills, but everywhere, and everything was so crowded, and we just never stop creating more garbage, would you really like to live in that environment? would you not try it to see if it makes things better? if it did end up doing more bad than good, then how could it get much worse than garbage.... More
As it seems, comments keep spreading about the possibilities of the bacteria spreading into the wild and devouring all plastics in use, pipes, cars, homes, etc. This reminds me of an old man with the total oposite of an "open mind" that once heard of the possibilities of melting the ice on the surface of mars (as it is believed by some that it is made of water) and making it produce an atmosphere with breatheble air. He said: "are they mad?, If they melt that ice it will fall down to the earth.... More
I think that an extreme view on either side is inaccurate. It's not likely to be an overnight cure-all, but it is certainly a positive step forward. I'm interested to see where it goes. I also think that "end of the world" hysterics are equally self-serving and do not promote any kind of meaningful dialog. Certainly, care needs to be taken and any possible outcomes should be looked at. That's what responsible research is about.
I read some comments that suggested that the microbe might get out of hand and eat plastic currently in use. Frankly that idea is ridiculous. These microbes were introduced in high enough numbers by creating an environment conducive to its growth. You can contain these organisms by recreating those conditions in desired areas only. As for the possible C02 bi-product, I applaud the person who brought up the subject of algae. C02 production is nothing more than an extremist way to make the.... More
Some simple thoughts to quell poorly thought out comments. First, there is a product developed a few years ago in New Mexico to do this. It is now commercialy available and the results are as some people say impressive. Plastic can be biodegraded in just a few months to a few years.depending on how thick the material section is. Bags are quick, solid blocks are slower. It depends on the amount of bacteria available too. Active landfills have a lot of bacteria, older dry landfills have.... More
m a b.sc gradute girl selected in an enterance exan 4 m.sc
need to submitt an abstract or must say reasearch paper to them ....
and find this topic of biodegradation of plastic quite appealing
i hv studied a lot about this nd 4 my write up i hv to do a simple experiment to answer a self created question........................ so hw could i??? any suggestions please???? they hv asked a simple experiment not a hi-fi one nd also should not be a fake copy of internet.... More
How are you a graduate student if you cannot even write a proper sentence, or spell out words? No offese, but text message abbreviations are not very appropriate. This kid did something remarkable, and has a very promising future. You need more help than just that project.
Correction -I forgot to check for typos, oops
How are you a graduate student if you cannot even write a proper sentence, or spell out words? No offense, but text message abbreviations are not very appropriate. This kid did something remarkable, and has a very promising future. You need more help than just that project.
How is it that a biodegradable bag can be a solution to all the plastics being thrown away in landfills? It would not even help the existing bags problem.
You are correct that starting to make bags biodegradable now would not help the problem of the bags already out there. That damage has already been done. But it would put an end to the problem going forwards. Have you ever been for a walk around a landfill? You are always tripping over plastic bags. They are a HUGE problem for the world. We use 1 million bags a minute. That is a stupendous number. What are we thinking? Plastic bags just got introduced to Africa in recent years. .... More
Some people really don't understand. I'm sitting here reading about this amazing breakthrough and some of you are saying how its a bad thing! you're acting as if this bacteria is going to grow into a giant blob and eat us all alive. NO. What it is going to do is basically erase all the WASTE that we have created on this earth. look around you!! mountains of garbage and waste are surrounding us. This can all be gone! Obviously the bacteria has to be in a controlled environment. Im sure something.... More
So, you're saying that because you see this as being solely positive, anyone who thinks otherwise is clearly wrong. Early nuclear scientists figured the same; amazingly, not every result of their research was focused on helping mankind. Setting aside accidental releases of such bacteria, intentional concentrations could be used for all sorts of havoc.
THis discussion about bacteria getting out of control to destroy our world belongs in Si Fi. We are happy to accept bacteria biodegrade paper and carboard yet we are not concerend about these bacteria getting out of control. Paper does not get destoryed in front of our eyes does it. It has to be placed in the right envrionment with lots of bacteria and moisture. The same is for these. Plastic won't degrade until it is put in the presence of a lot of bacteria.
Let science show the real.... More
im just adding one thing:
I firmly beleive in recycling. I dont understand why people dont recycle. BUT recycling is only efficient with certain materials. Like aluminum for example, it is easily melted and molded back into whatever it will become. Plastic is not efficiently recycled! It costs a lot of money and omits green house gasses into the environment which is why there is so much waste.
Eureka! Seems to me we have enough unsterilized plastic to keep the microbes busy for a long, long time! And I TOTALLY advocate using green plastic for mass consumer goods such as bags & plastic gift cards. You can make hard plastic out of all-natural ingredients. Check it out on Wikipedia!
Or www.greenliberationsalon.blogspot.com
We need everyone's help to turn this.... More
New things are being discovered all the time. That is discovered not created. There are natural laws. Conservation of matter, conservation of momentum. And the fact that we have discovered less than 5% of all the life on this planet.
Plastic is a resource and should be treated as such, which means recycle.
To the commentator who suggests that these microbes could possibly destroy plastic that is in use. How ridiculous and if only that were true! Then the sea of plastic that I see on the streets of Asia would magically disapper instead of finding its way into the streams, rivers and oceans.
How is the idea ridiculous? The microbe won't care whether the plastic is being used or not, it'll still consume/metabolize it because it is still a plastic (unless they treat it in a way such that the microbe WON'T metabolize it, which defeats the purpose of engineering it to begin with). I think the commenter is more concerned with the effect the microbe would have if it somehow got out of its controlled environment and was allowed to spread on its own, could be a "plastic plague".... More
However, it seems that the process only works efficiently under controlled, ideal breeding environments. Thus, upon escaping into the wild, it would not go on an airborne rampage eating all the plastic in its path. Instead, it might eat away at the siding on a few houses, or at the worst, destroy some water utility piping in a specific area.
This actually is a problem, and Microbial Influenced Corrosion (MIC) is a serious concern for (water) utilities infrastructure. Thus, most underground piping is cement-lined ductile iron, or PVC based piping, to minimize tuberculation and pitting. MIC in metal piping can be severe and the cost of replacing infrastructure or sprinkler systems is extremely high when you consider that it does not make the business / tenant money - strictly intended for loss prevention. A system might have to be.... More
So, would it not? I remember a novel, written in the late 80s/early 90s, titled: Microbe XYZ, the plastic eater. Usual fictionary catastrophe theme. Was then.
As it seems, after SOME weeks of breeding, we got a plastophage who accomplishes in 6 weeks what would take some centuries before.
You talk about "eat away at the siding on a few houses, or at the worst, destroy some water utility piping in a specific area". What about the cars of the people living in the houses? They contain plastic..... More
Great article, what an accomplishment for this young man. There is another solution to all the plastics being thrown away in landfills, it's called biodegradable bags. For more information please visit www.perfgogreen.com
Thanks
