We found a germ that ‘feeds’ on hospital plastic – new study

By Ronan McCarthy, Professor in Biomedical Sciences, Brunel University of London
Rubén de Dios, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Biotechnology, Brunel University of London

Plastic pollution is one of the defining environmental challenges of our time – and some of nature’s tiniest organisms may offer a surprising way out.

In recent years, microbiologists have discovered bacteria capable of breaking down various types of plastic, hinting at a more sustainable path forward.

These “plastic-eating” microbes could one day help shrink the mountains of waste clogging landfills and oceans. But they are not always a perfect fix.…

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