🔄FROM THE ARCHIVE: There are now more than 50 known species of ‘plastivores,’ or plastic-eating organisms. One of these, the greater wax moth, is offering scientists hope in the fight against plastic pollution.
But there may be new hope for a solution. Scientists say they’ve found a caterpillar that loves to eat this non-biodegradable waste. The insects won’t save us from our plastic pollution, but figuring out how they digest the garbage could help offer up a solution.
. Policymakers have started trying to reduce single-use plastics like grocery bags and straws. And they’ve had some success, too. Just last week, a statewide law went into effect in New York blocking businesses from even distributing plastic bags to customers. China recently said it would enact similar measures across all of its major cities by the end of the year. A few large corporations have even experimented with reusable containers for things like shampoo bottles and toothpaste tubes.
LeMoine and his Brandon University team focused on one of these insects: caterpillar larvae of the greater wax moth. The researchers were particularly interested in how this caterpillar, together with the microorganisms in its gut — its microbiome — could break down and metabolize plastic. That work included separating out the bacteria from the waxworms’ gut and growing it on its own in the lab.
“The waxworm and its gut bacteria must break down these long chains ,” LeMoine says. “And presumably, because plastics are similar in structure, they can also co-opt this machinery to use polyethylene plastics as a nutrient source.” In fact, some of their gut bacteria even seemed to doHow much plastic can a group of very hungry caterpillars eat? According to the scientists, about 60 waxworms chewed through a matchbook-sized square of plastic bag in under a week.
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