Scientists Find Plastic-Eating Bacteria, Could It Be The Solution To Overcome Global Garbage?

KOMPAS.com – Scientist Japan managed to find the species bacteria eater plastic, in 2016. This is certainly an extraordinary discovery, because it has the potential to help overcome the problem plastic waste global.

In a study published in the journal Science On March 11, 2016, a team of scientists revealed that they had discovered the bacteria while collecting plastic bottles outside a recycling facility.

Generally, bacteria spend their time absorbing dead organic matter but bacteria named Ideonella sakaiensis it can actually “eat” certain types of plastic, namely polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

After analyzing it the scientists found that the bacteria produce two digestive enzymes called PET hydrolysis or PETase.

Reported from Live ScienceWednesday (23/3/2022) this enzyme interacts with PET plastic, then breaks the long molecular chain into shorter chains (monomers) or terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol.

These monomers are broken down again to release energy for bacterial growth.

Also read: This Strange Bacteria Eats Electricity, Called Potentially Generate Energy

Shortly after discovery plastic eating bacteriaa number of scientists also conducted experiments using Ideonella sakaiensis to increase its efficiency.

One of the trials they carried out was genetically engineering bacteria to produce enzymes such as E.coli, then turning them into PETase factories.

While this discovery offers hope for tackling a world’s overcapacity plastic waste, the scientists caution that there is still a long way to go for the widespread use of bacteria.

In addition, they underlined that the PETase enzyme has so far only been able to decompose PET plastic.

Meanwhile, there are six other types of plastic that cannot be broken down using these enzymes.

Following the experiment with the plastic-eating bacteria, researchers at the University of Portsmouth also re-engineered the PETase enzyme to create a “cocktail” enzyme that they claim can digest plastic up to six times faster.

Also read: Thanks to the discovery of anthrax bacteria to tuberculosis, harmful pathogens can be prevented

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