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Plastic Producing Bug

A PESKY MICROBE WITH A BAD REP IS NOW BECOMING AN ECOLOGICAL WORKHORSE.  HEAR HOW A BACTERIA IS NOW PRESERVING OUR HEALTH AND OUR PLANET ON TODAY’S ENVIRONMINUTE.   

IN THE PAST, PSEUDOMONAS HAS BEEN A BACTERIA TO AVOID FOR ITS PERSISTENT INFECTION-CAUSING CHARACTERISTICS.  BUT THAT PERSISTENCE IS EXACTLY WHAT’S NOW BEING PUT TO USE RIDDING THE PLANET OF THE TOXIN STYRENE WITH WHITE BIOTECHNOLOGY.   

STYRENE IS A BY-PRODUCT FROM THE PRODUCTION OF RUBBER – A TOXIC CARCINOGEN EMITTED INTO OUR AIR, WATER, AND LAND.  BUT SCIENTISTS HAVE FOUND BY ALLOWING PSEUDOMONAS TO FERMENT WITH STYRENE, THE BACTERIA CONSUMES THE TOXIN.  EVEN BETTER – THE BYPRODUCT FROM CONSUMPTION IS POLYMER PLASTIC – THE SAME PLASTIC USED TO MAKE DISPOSABLE CUPS AND PLATES.  AND, POLYMERS ARE FULLY BIODEGRADABLE WITHIN JUST A FEW WEEKS.  WITH MORE DEVELOPMENT, THIS PROCESS COULD TURN COSTLY DISPOSAL OF A TOXIN INTO AN ECO-FRIENDLY BUG.

THE ENVIRONMINUTE IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE HEINZ FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES AND THE HEINZ ENDOWMENTS.  LEARN MORE BY VISITING ENVIRONMINUTE-DOT-COM. 

To learn more, read the article in Business Week.