Meet The Plastic-Eating Worms | Planet Fix | BBC Earth Science

These worms can eat plastic. Not only that, but they can digest it too! In the fifth and final episode of 'Planet Fix', we speak to the scientists exploring how nature is fighting back against one of the world's biggest polluters.

#Plastic #EarthDay

[nickbarber]

As a beekeeper I've noted the ability of wax-moth larvae to eat everything in their path...even polystyrene...but I thought this was purely mechanical chewing rather than actual digestion...well done that lady for making the connection!

[sadiemcnabb]

I'm going to be endlessly entertained if these worms end up saving the world.

[MrSuvvri]

1 year later and nothing to be heard about these anymore

[haroldvalin]

This is absolutely amazing. A majority of scientific discoveries were discovered by accident such as penicillin, indigo dye, and the list goes on and on. It’s a very exciting time to be alive.

[rayanderson]

This reminds me a bit of something odd that occurred in my own field (pest control). The termite bait we use is actually made primarily out of plastic. The company that makes the bait had an issue with a phone line, and found that it was being eaten by termites. Turns out that there's a kind of plastic that termites like to eat.
I'm not sure if it's the same sort of case, but to me it's a little funny. It also means the bait last as long as it needs to, and we don't need to worry about it degrading.

[middleclassic]

I’m 60 and after watching this video, these are the kind of discoveries that makes me want to be 10-20 years old again. Because I want so much to be a part of these discoveries, transformations, and possibilities of tackling what initially appeared to be insurmountable problems such as what to do with all the plastic we use daily.

[pirojfmifhghek]

The worms are cool and all, but honestly I'm most impressed by the upscaling concept. Not just degrading plastics, but turning them into something USEFUL and marketable. That means there's incentive for a profit-seeking company to actually do it. Microbiology is really starting to take off in some cool directions and it's a damn shame we're not hearing more about it. Heck, I just read an article published recently that some researchers found a way to develop regular ol' brewer's yeast so that it produced THC from glucose. That's... pretty friggin cool. Not because of "lmao 420 blaze it" clout, but because they were able to use the available technology to casually engineer the yeast to do it.

When sci-fi writers talk about things like food replicators and the like, this is how I actually see it manifesting. Using bacterium and fungi and other micro-organisms to break down or combine materials into things that can be used in manufacturing. Turning trash into food, fuel, medicine, minerals, you name it.

I just hope they are able to use similar methods to process things like PFAs and heavy metals that are being found in higher concentrations in nature. They simply don't biodegrade at all, unless you're counting their atomic half-life.

[Dimarious.G]

Next most wanted invention: plastic eating worms resistant plastic 🗿

[NZKiwi]

I’ve never crossed my fingers so hard 🤞 not for the worms so much, but what we could potentially learn and develop.

[archietiberius]

I would be interested in knowing the chemical composition of the worms droppings... This is incredible.

[reemavishwanath]

Now all we need is to figure out the chemical composition of the enzymes capable of breaking down plastic and recreate them in a lab!

[abrahammnjama]

You are my heroes guys thank God your parents invested in your education

[Alasdair]

if this actually works out this could be game changing. Nature is incredible.

[YeshwanthReddy]

Congrats to Jesse Pinkman in taking up a responsible career and doing good to the environment

[junaid]

It would be extremely helpful if you provided references to the journal articles that are spoken about.That way, we wouldn't have to go stumbling around looking for it, especially if someone doesn't know how to find a research paper. This is information that should be more easily accessible to the public, should they choose to read further about it.

[amenamen]

I’m humbled to see that a small creature may be able to help save the planet 🙏

[SleepingKoi]

We made a niche (creating a ton of plastic) and they filled the niche (eating the plastic we created). It's nature and it's awesome

[arturm]

Kardashians been real quiet since this came out

[Kakashi]

As a beekeeper and a Biology major, I remember reading this years ago and experimented this with the wax worms I found in my beehives and a plastic bag. Yup, they ate holes out of my plastic thin grocery bag. They are a huge nuisance and destroy my frames for my bees to work and take care of things on so the worms are like a double edge sword (like Chemotherapy). Still, very interesting to see that they can get rid of my trash bag.

[gijs-janbruil]

I always had the impression that, geven the enormous amount of plasticwaste in this stage of the antropocene, an organism being capable of digesting (some sort of) plastics would have a huge advantage, and that sooner or later this organism, probably a fungus or a bacterial heterotroph, would show up, or rather, would be discovered, i.e. in developing stage. Great!