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.
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[@nickbarber2080]

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!

[@foryol]

I also noticed the ability of every common household moth worm to eat through plastic and also thought it was just a mechanical chewing.

[@tavisui4779]

eat everything in their path? 😨 i hope they dont evolve and grow into 2 meters tall 🤣 its scary :P

[@helentee9863]

Same here. Indian meal moths do this too (as l found to my cost ☹) but l just assumed mechanical chewing.

[@liammurphy2725]

Because? Scientist.

[@1904Ernst]

@@foryol fkn mice will eat plastic(sometimes at least :D)

[@sadiemcnabb4444]

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

[@marcusrobinson1778]

Plastic ain't the only problem.

[@halatiny6537]

@@marcusrobinson1778 it’s a huge one

[@marcusrobinson1778]

@@halatiny6537 no way? Really?

[@FablestoneSeries]

I wouldn't be so sure. It is all great if they remained contained where we want them to be. But it is only a matter of time before they accidentally spread everywhere and suddenly car parks are plagued with car eating bugs, warehouses of textiles are destroyed, drones come crashing to the ground, computer farms are destroyed. It is only a matter of time before people start using them as weapons. protestors infecting companies, to terrorists trying to cause as much collateral damage as possible. This could go horribly wrong very quickly.

[@TheBelrick]

If a microbe got out that ate plastic. You die. Your neighbour dies. Modern civilization dies. How is that good? How did you get so many upvotes? How do you not know this.?

[@reemavishwanath1046]

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!

[@user-4m9-dr80h4]

Yawn. For years now, scientists have been uncovering worms, fungi, bacteria, algae that can easily, quickly, naturally biodegrade plastic into harmless organic compost . . . and every years, millions of tons of plastic are manufactured, used once, and end up in landfills, streams, rivers, oceans, into marine and animal life --- and microplstics into people's cells and DNA.

[@larzkruber822]

We spend 56 billion dollar to build a translator for animal speech We asked the Worm King His answer was Nom Nom Nom

[@sarcasticstartrek7719]

Yes, congratulations on manging to watch the video.

[@amit30706]

Yes, sure biologist are working on that hope so

[@amit30706]

Hi you are indian🇮🇳 living in USA 🙋🏽‍♂️🙋🏽‍♂️

[@haroldvalin7110]

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.

[@YeshwanthReddy]

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

[@TheFos88]

Yeah! Science!

[@colonelkernal297]

Yo! Mr White! Ima scientist

[@mirroredchaos]

im glad I wasnt the only person who thought he looked like jesse lol

[@youareaclown724]

​@@TheFos88 MAGNETS!

[@lullaby218]

Don't believe anything in this v|deo.

[@rayanderson5797]

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.

[@cheth5604]

Like maybe a soy based plastic? It’s still a plant derived material

[@rayanderson5797]

@@cheth5604 I'm afraid I don't know. All I know is that it's a kind of plastic.

[@cheth5604]

I know that rats would eat the soy based plastics on the wiring of high end cars, so that’s my guess

[@Sami-fg2bm]

@@cheth5604 well all plastic is plant derived, oil-based plastic is produced by processing oil, which itself is fossilized plants from millions of years ago, whether rats could eat it or not is irrelevant of its source, it only depends on its molecular structure, I think an edible plastic probably could be made, but whether it's quality and price could compete with oil-based plastic is another question.

[@cheth5604]

@@Sami-fg2bm I’m speaking of the termite bait in particular from the original post because it is designed to be an attractant for termites

[@amenamen5648]

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

[@behooman7749]

It's not going to be the worms. It's going to be us, every single one of us, making a conscious decision to make a change. If we don't change our mindset, our lifestyles, perhaps this problem might go away, but we'll create other problems.

[@arturm6621]

Kardashians been real quiet since this came out

[@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.

[@Ming1975]

We can't stop aging but we can do what it takes to live young till the end. I'm 48, kids still see me as a cool teen to hang out with even though i joke a lot about loosing my grey hair.😂

[@beethao9380]

a leech trying to take the accomplishment of others. shame on you. make your own discoveries.

[@shellyu1442]

I agree, Life 100 years ago was already so different. Just the fact that we are alive during this time with all these innovations happening in our lifetime is already a miracle. There’s no better time to be alive

[@mcfly7]

Would you like to have a worm inside of you? It will help digest your food. All problems you see are created.

[@camojoe83]

Plastic is diesel in solid form, mostly. You just pyrolize it and reclaim the fuel. No need for trying to figure out any new chemistry wizarding. Just heat a pot full of plastic and reclaim the fuel. The end.

[@NZKiwi87]

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

[@honorablelord67]

🤓

[@wildlifewarrior2670]

All the wax worms are very important also

[@Zaxares]

This is why conservation is so important. Nature is a gargantuan chemical lab with millions of experiments running every second of every day, with evolutionary fitness being the prize. Plastic is a tremendous waste burden on the planet, but it's ALSO an immense and untapped resource, if only something was able to exploit it. And it seems that, just like it has countless times in the past, some organism has finally found a way to do it. A similar situation occurred millions of years ago during the Carboniferous period, which is when plants first evolved the ability to produce lignin, the central component that makes up wood. Nothing in their environment at the time could attack wood, so the early trees had an immense survival advantage, but the downside was that, once these trees died, you had tons and tons of wood just lying around on the ground that nothing could decompose. (In fact, the vast majority of the world's coal supply dates back to the Carboniferous, from when all of this undecayed wood got buried underground and eventually turned into coal.) Then, finally, a species of fungus developed the enzymes and ability to break down wood, and with all of this bonanza of uneaten wood lying around, it basically spread like wildfire around the world with a near-unlimited food source. Eventually other species and creatures developed similar abilities, but at the end of the day, nature found a solution. That's why conserving rare and unusual species is important, because you never know if one of them holds the key to solving some strange, as yet undiscovered, problem we'll have in the future.

[@Nn-uh2kb]

Why do you have to add that you don't care about the worms lol

[@NZKiwi87]

@@Nn-uh2kb I didn’t 🤷‍♀️ you just read it that way.

[@Dimarious.G]

Next most wanted invention: plastic eating worms resistant plastic 🗿

[@S2042S]

True

[@cbxk1xg]

Fire police: "You said your house burned down, because a "worm" was eating the insulation of the power cables? Are you mental?"

[@abhinavbisht9851]

Then next generation of worms will develop enzymes to digest worms resistant plastic😂😂😂😂

[@Dimarious.G]

@@abhinavbisht9851 Exactly! 😂

[@amanagnihotri9473]

And the cycle goes on...

[@pulkitsujaan]

Those worms' digestion is stronger than my will to live

[@archietiberius5005]

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

[@peppermint-sauce]

That was my first thought

[@wildlifewarrior2670]

I'm sure they tested the poop

[@archietiberius5005]

​@@RealPlatoishere Yes, I watched the video. Digestion does not equal "renders safe" If their biological processes are just making more micro plastics instead of completely breaking down the plastic the problem has not been solved.

[@Seroxm13]

​@@archietiberius5005 reducing the plastic is still a win. You just can't solve something instantly, especially a worldwide issue. Huge problems like this will get solved gradually and will take decades.

[@archietiberius5005]

@@Seroxm13 Which is the exact reason I made my original comment in the first place my dude. I don't think, or expect, it to be solved overnight. I would still like to know what the biological precipitates are after digestion. Edit: Furthermore, my comment specifically refers to microplastics, which are small enough to be /suspended in atmosphere/ and are a much, MUCH larger problem than the existence of plastic in general. Making it smaller and smaller and smaller makes the problem exponentially worse. KZbin is wild.

[@pirojfmifhghek566]

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.

[@spooky5338]

Frankly I'd rather it be used as substrate or fertilizer than food.

[@Redflowers9]

@Spooky no worries, just give it to all the people who like eating processed junk food, they are a form of worm themselves lol

[@sylpherstorm]

However it is giving possible out of control grey ooze kind of

[@downstream0114]

I watched a doc on Valmet and every time they made their paper processes more environmentally friendly it seemed like they gained a new product from the "waste" stream.

[@mihailhirvonen553]

I hate this capitalist world where the only incentive we can think of is proffit. smh.

[@Kittyintheraiyn]

This video cleared up a lot of question I had about this topic, thank you.

[@user-dv6pv4rp5q]

Very much look forward to hearing about future discoveries in this field. Fantastic and fabulous work by all doing this research. Go science!

[@bobmcbobbington9220]

Go science. Fix the problems scientists created!

[@Alasdair37448]

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

[@triggeredbyeverything2580]

Nature is amazing. Just hairless monkeys tend to fuck it up

[@Hana085]

God is overwhelmingly awesome

[@OmuRenz]

​@@Hana085 Don't involve god into this, not everyone believes in him.

[@PSy84]

@@Hana085 😂😂😂😂😂 So who or what created God?

[@bornsniper9531]

@@PSy84 your mum

[@junaid2606]

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.

[@Manj_J]

Yes to this, they should put links to all the papers and resources in the description for us to find and read on our own as well.

[@HABLA_GUIRRRI]

this sht has been around for decades. some narcisst millennial numptie at the beeb with his self regarding vocal fried voice just decided to look clevah with it twenty yrs too late with the sea still full of fookin plastic. twats all.

[@dddddd211]

Then make your own channel smartass...

[@Frivals]

Exactly

[@gijs-janbruil6738]

This should have gone without saying!

[@abrahammnjama7962]

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

[@tamikacopeland138]

Right like sounds like another pandemic waiting to be discovered for a new future jab to me

[@Christian-gb8zf]

Nature is so incredible! I’ve seen oyster mushrooms digest plastic, cardboard, pretty much anything if you get an aggressive enough strain. I work on a culinary mushroom farm. I wonder if putting large amounts of plastic in an extreme oxygen chamber partially powered by plants would be another possible solution if oxygen can break it down

[@endabcs4708]

OMG, this just explained how the wax moths got to the honey combs I was saving sealed tight in plastic bags. I was like, "no way did they eat through these bags".... I was wrong🙃

[@FF2Guy]

Nature never ceases to amaze me

[@dougm6106]

I love your avatar xD 1000 noodles !

[@FF2Guy]

@@dougm6106 thanks

[@Widestone001]

This is so cool! Life finds a way. The image I can't get rid of in my head right now is a moldy computer. 😀

[@nickwest1305]

I can just see a farmer accepting plastic to feed the warms and then just feeding it to their chickens on an industrial scale

[@punnamrajenderreddy5537]

Hope there is no micro plastic in this process😮

[@arlynnecumberbatch1056]

The worms saliva breaks down plastic, basically deleting the bonds of that plastic

[@arlynnecumberbatch1056]

Also i dont think chickens eat those kinds of worms or they would prolly face stomach issues

[@scrub_lord]

chickens will eat anything. im sure they can eat those worms. theyd probably enjoy the protein

[@scoobydoobydoooo]

picqued my curiosity so I did a quick google just now. 'Wax Moth Larvae Galleria mellonella are a very nutritious livefood full of vitamins and minerals, these are excellent for feeding to very small reptiles and insect eating birds they are also very good at getting reluctant eaters started'. Does this mean chickens? Not sure

[@gijs-janbruil6738]

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!

[@yakb.7690]

Problem is we literally engineered these carbon chains to be indestructible.. plastics not reacting with anything or dissolving is why they are so impossible for any organism to break down. Ideally we would just change what we produce but you cant take away human comfort ofc

[@ThePickledsoul]

I just hope they're kept in their own closed system. Otherwise, say goodbye to the plastic covering on wires, plastic plumbing and similar infrastructure.

[@gijs-janbruil6738]

I used the word 'fungus', the correct word is 'mould' or 'mold', I bilieve.

[@gijs-janbruil6738]

@@yakb.7690 Indeed!

[@yakb.7690]

@@gijs-janbruil6738 No you are fine, Fungus is the term of the entire group of organisms.

[@SannPisetha]

That's so incredible! Save more for amazing natural creature.

[@parghi22]

Really interesting and exciting, thank you for sharing!

[@vulgartrendkill]

This is amazing, but I can`t help thinking that this would suggest to businesses that they can increase the amount of plastic they produce rather than reduce.....

[@narrativeless404]

They don't need to do neither actually The amount they produce is enough, and reducing is no longer necessary

[@FLPhotoCatcher]

There are hundreds of chemicals in plastics that act like potent and harmful hormones in humans - if the enzymes leave *any* amounts of these chemicals in real-world situations, especially concerning plastics made into food additives, human health could suffer even more than if the plastics were just burned for energy. "Forever chemicals" are bad, and also hard to break down. The focus in this video is on the long-chain polymers that make up the bulk of plastics, but the harmful plasticizers and other additives in plastics are ignored.

[@RobKlarmann]

The solution could be to impose a plastic-production tax on those businesses, with which they fund the research & development for plastic upscaling. 🙂

[@excelsior8682]

How tf do businesses produce more than they are already producing lol

[@koutsioj4762]

@@excelsior8682 By expanding their products or how much they produce while still using plastics, instead of partially or fully stop using plastic. It's simple really.

[@4m0nym]

I love this. This is basically a modern and real, not magical, version of Alchemy. Turning wood to gold, so to speak. I'm excited to see where this goes.

[@user-im7km8tq7j]

in macro scale it looks like that but the de-facto difference is that alchemy was about transforming metals which means working on atomic level and changing number of protons in atom while organic chemistry is on molecular level thus it is under common chemistry rules. Physically it is rather nucleosynthesis which is real-life alchemy because there you are not transforming chemicals one into another but transforming the elements.

[@SweetLilWren]

​@@user-im7km8tq7j it was a metaphor

[@user-im7km8tq7j]

@@SweetLilWren I know but still wanted to comment an opinion on that, sorry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@4m0nym]

@@user-im7km8tq7j Interesting information. Thanks!

[@JokerFace090]

That is what chemistry is, alchemy with the scientific method . Look up vids of a guy turning a plastic glove into hotsauce and another vid of a guy refining impurities out of a 1oz gold bullion.

[@matthews2122]

I really hope they’re pushing forward with this hard.

[@garygallegos103]

great stuff know we would start to make head way into these plastic problem can wait to know more 🙂

[@SleepDeprivedKai]

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

[@wildlifewarrior2670]

I love nature

[@Manj_J]

Nature is awesome!

[@theplumscrub1627]

Truly! Also, I love your profile picture and the game it’s from

[@meoff7602]

Just shows you that we can only kill ourselves, not nature.

[@jacobjeleniewski8694]

Ive been hearing about this kinda stuff for a while because im so interested in these things and it makes me so happy to see how far weve come fighting the plastic crisis

[@alexcisneros2980]

Weve

[@steveinsbrook2479]

What is depressing is that old saying "junk in junk out" or in this case "Toxic in Toxic out" This is no solution, this is just another symptom of the plastic disease, that is poisoning our ecosystem. Its game over.

[@realdragon]

"Fighting" lol People will literally do anything than use less plastic. Cool now we have plastic eating worms.That doesn't solve the problem

[@steveinsbrook2479]

@@realdragon They eat toxic waste and crap out the same amount of toxic waste only its smaller and can get deeper into our food chain. Set the doomsday clock to Midnight we are screwed.

[@buffaloshite]

What a fascinating video!

[@SaniyaSachinm]

Thanks A Million I got New KZbin Channel from this video to learn more knowledge

[@spulwasser]

The fact that those bacteria and worms evolved plastic-degrading enzymes all by themselves, this fast, makes me much more optimistic for the future. Nature seems to have a much bigger potential for regeneration and self-balancing the system than I had anticipated

[@koutsioj4762]

Nature will be fine, it has survived much worse and it will probably survive until the planet gets completely destroyed. We, however, will not be fine and neither will the animals of this planet if we don't stop harming it.

[@Quetzalcoatl_Feathered_Serpent]

Until you realize that others could do it as evolution allows some creatures other than these bacterias and worms and suddenly you might have bugs destroying plastic in things we need.

[@NachozMan]

@@Quetzalcoatl_Feathered_Serpent You say this like it's a bad thing lmfao. Fuck plastic. Whatever we "NEED" that's made with plastic can or even in the past WAS made without, fuck plastic.

[@rainbowprism6242]

Eat shit, creationists. And evolve to like it.

[@Myria83]

@@Quetzalcoatl_Feathered_Serpent Last year I published a short story with that premise...

[@Kakashi713]

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.

[@wildlifewarrior2670]

So I'm assuming they eat thicker Plastics veriquick also

[@Kakashi713]

@Wildlife Warrior it depends on the type of plastic as the researcher said. If it was the same as my plastic grocery bag, then yes in theory they should be able to.

[@wildlifewarrior2670]

@@Kakashi713 yeah I know what he said but I wonder if a few of those could eat a thick piece of plastic in a few months

[@Kakashi713]

@Wildlife Warrior again, depends on the plastic as they said. There are many types of plastic and they are (to what is seen) capable of eating through two. If you gave them something that is not the two that they eat, then they won't be able to eat it, regardless of the size.

[@sdqsdq6274]

@@wildlifewarrior2670 doubt they can eat thru plastic bottle

[@vmthelegend5140]

Its interesting that it is in natures dna to be able to deal even with plastic. This is one of the few science things these days that are really positive and could togheter with reducing plastic overall, help dealing with this problem. Humans should ones again starting by learning from nature. Bakteria itself is incredible, so flexible, in constant evolution, with the mission to bring everything back to the source. This Planet is truly a gift that humans havent understood yet!

[@user-zn1cg8lc8r]

ed in these things and it makes me so happy to see how far weve come fighting the plastic crisisIve been hearing about this kinda stuff for a while because im so interest

[@YourComputerExpert]

I just wonder if this oxidation causes lots and lots of microplastics, or if it actually transforms all the plastic into something else. Extra clarification: the keyword here is 'all'. E.g.: How do we ensure the ratios of enzymes vs plastic are so that all plastic gets transformed and not leave a lot of smaller plastics in the process. To me that sounds like a realistic scenario, but I might be mistaken.

[@sodalitia]

This whole segment about worms was kind of inconsistent. In one place they say they extracted the enzyme from their saliva. Later they say, the enzymes has to be yet identified. Did they even bother examining the droppings of the worms? For all it is, it could be just worms mechanically shredding the plastic. It's like claiming that humans can digest celulose, because they can eat toilet paper and poop it out in mashed up form. Also that's not helping very much, because the smaller the plastic the more contaminating it is for the ecosystems. Also majority of the plastic pollution on the planet is nylon fishing nets, which is much tougher than your grocery plastic bag. Also all this technophiliac crap about how "science" will save us from plastic one day is a grenwashing obfuscation of actual policy of banning single use plastics altogheter.

[@generycenterprise2580]

I was wondering about the same thing, they didn't mention the most important question

[@DrDanQ92]

@@sodalitia Unfortunately whether we ban plastics or not, they're polluting every corner of the earth already and so microbes and other such organisms will probably have to save us. Not to mention the vast amount of problems that banning single use plastics would cause, such as vastly lower shelf life which would further our waste and a lower footprint than most reusable products.

[@leightonolsson4846]

No once the enzyme which they cite enables the oxidative breaking of the polymer bonds they are not longer plastics!

[@ericfleet9602]

@ahtan2000 Plastics are just long hydrocarbons. If the worms are able to break down the hydrocarbons, they are incorporating the shorter hydrocarbons into their body.

[@Jben7976]

This sounds really promising!!! I pray that scientists are able to develop their research into a viable solution to upscaling plastics!!! Way to go guys!!!!!

[@Dankpuffin]

This is one of the greatest discovery this century so far.

[@nikolaykostadinov2335]

:D if u think worms eating plastic would solve our plastic problems , you are the lowest IQ guy of the century

[@taseenmuhtadi513]

I hope these discoveries lead to practical ways to deal with plastic pollution, not just solutions that only work in the lab.😊

[@sbok9481]

The solution with worms are already there. As usual, the research company is probably trying to monetize the concept. That's why she said that we can't simply unleash the worms. Everything on this planet is about money.

[@vladislavdonchev1271]

9 out of 10 robot building future world domination planning AIs hate this.

[@danielsimon4542]

Passive aggressive

[@heroe1486]

​@@danielsimon4542 Redditor

[@steveinsbrook2479]

What is depressing is that old saying "junk in junk out" or in this case "Toxic in Toxic out" This is no solution, this is just another symptom of the plastic disease, that is poisoning our ecosystem. Its game over.

[@BackyardBirdys]

Amazing stuff!! Thank you for making this! And a big thank you to all the scientists making it possible!

[@BUFFALOBYCOCOLA]

Thank you

[@Alex-xq3ze]

I love little wax worms they are squishy and cute! My frog also loves eating them! Its nice to know how amazing they are and what they could be capable of

[@luminousauthenticity2302]

What I want to know is are they testing how these enzymes and chemicals effect the earth/soil/water/marine life? This is so wonderful AND if your going to put it out on the 🌎 to help the environment, you should know how it will effect the environment. However I'm grateful that there are scientists thinking about this and trying to fond ways to deal with this problem! 🎉

[@koutsioj4762]

Yes, it sounds promising in theory but I'm still a bit skeptical. I really hope these worms don't leave microplastics or other harmful substances behind and the upscaling of plastic truly becomes possible. Meaning that it wouldn't need too much energy, time or money.

[@foryol]

I think, that's something we should always keep in mind when developing new solutions. It's often overlooked and leaves as with other problems in the end.

[@adamofblastworks1517]

They probably aren't even close to being able to start that research, though I would definitely like to see it happen.

[@mikedennington8856]

I heard about this 15 years ago. So where has it been all these years?

[@emc5678]

Your medal is in the mail.

[@freevipservers]

@@emc5678 You need a medal for how far that comment went over your head!

[@Donna-uj4ov]

Nature is a form of the creator , this is awesome

[@yashwant675]

Aayein

[@sparkwing5379]

This just restored my hope in humanity❤

[@spitfire155k2]

We as humans have such a capacity to fix modern issue however if it’s not financially lucrative nobody is going to do it. Very interesting and compelling video.

[@phelan8385]

That's one of my biggest frustrations in this world

[@Stefanitza27]

The currency creators can afford ANYTHING as long as there are real resources available! The entire world suffers and people die over a simple misconception of money 😢 #LearnMMT

[@AnonYmous-ow9zr]

The potential of this is actually fascinating.

[@Etrancical]

Can't wait till I get into Organic Chemistry next semester. I wanna learn all about the breakdown of polymers, and all the natural processes that come with the class

[@lemedico]

And then you break bad

[@wrathofzombies]

Exceptionally beautiful thought and I would recommend you read on the side, if you don't get access to information in your course material. Best of luck.

[@FLPhotoCatcher]

Note that the focus in this video was on the long-chain polymers that make up the bulk of plastics, but the harmful plasticizers, "forever chemicals" and other additives in plastics were ignored. Making food flavorings from plastic should be very illegal.

[@Bloodybear06]

Organic Chemistry is fun! Loved every second of it because my professor was very good at teaching it. Hope it also does the same to you.

[@Arexack999]

Try to add some extra biochemistry classes to your curriculum that should really help in inderstanding the biology side of these interdisiplinary studies. Maybe add some microbiology, possibly some nano etc. Good luck !

[@nikothehero799]

This is actually really cool.

[@marklchapman2785]

It’s a beautiful thought

[@darenabryant9100]

This is LITERALLY the plot of the game STRAY, where you play a cat. They developed something that could eat plastic and it mutated into something that tried to eat basically any living thing it could, eventually ending civilization. Only a few sentient robots were left behind.

[@suikun245]

The best explanation I found about this game, was that humans died from a plague due to the high density of the environment, and because there was no sun to kill some common bacteria and also provide vitamin D to keep the human metabolism working correctly, lots of people started do become ill and eventually die. The Zurks (evolved bacteria) mutated hundreds of thousands of years after human extinction (at least from that shelter)

[@redrose9330]

I've done a research of this last year, found that it does eat plastic. I was going to use it as my SIP in my school, but then I found that out that it can only eat thin plastic (I mean, it would be really the key if it can eat at least something like a plastic bottle, but no). It's still useful though from the help of nature, but it's us still who help ourselves.

[@camojoe83]

It's cheaper and faster to extract the hydrocarbons via pyrolysis. Always will be and it's more useful. Cheap, too. That's why it's non existent.

[@objectzer070]

@@camojoe83 Did we watch the same video? Is not existent because as pointed out in the video THE WORM ARE NOT THE SOLUTION BUT THE ENZYMES THEY CREATED.

[@sheilalara5431]

Well, it's also humans who brought this problem upon ourselves.

[@98Zai]

It's pretty difficult to recycle thin plastics, so that's actually a good thing. This will be used for plastic that is too broken to recycle again. None of this will solve the problem of lazy people dumping rubbish in the sea.

[@MasterMayhem78]

With all your research did you learn that these worms only process plastic into nano-plastic waste? Did you learn that there’s zero nutritional value in which nothing is absorbed into the worms but instead just pushed out the other end as nano-plastic poop. Didn’t do much research did you 🤷‍♂

[@bindusree318]

Thank you sirs and madams

[@clxqc2912]

man that is really cool can we talk about mycoremediation and the extreme ability of fungi to breakdown plastics and hydrocarbons into usable energy and act as a pioneer spieces to reclaim land that has been overly polluted by hydrocarbon or plastic pollution.

[@bmanpura]

4:18 I love this guy here. And the editor of this video. That sentence's placement and articulation is just perfect.

[@stocktonjoans]

Anyone else got the urge to introduce a bunch of these things to the nearest amazon warehouse?

[@robertm3329]

Well that doesn’t seem very productive

[@karezaalonso7110]

no but to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

[@MrChristianDT]

Well, we'll have to teach them to swim first, but...

[@nunyabitnezz2802]

No, just psychos.

[@stocktonjoans]

@@nunyabitnezz2802 psychos are people too

[@abdulali3577]

Blessing for Earth

[@balaramnaik5619]

This is really awsome, Science is so cool😮.

[@darkglass3011]

In terms of "upscaling" plastics, I draw the line at anything that I eat or drink. Turning them into fabrics and clothing is something that I would support, but not for food.

[@PhoenixAttact]

Meh, I wouldn't mind really. It's not like we'd be force to eat it. It would just be another option. Along with vegan labeled food, gluten free, impossible meat, etc. It'll just say plastic-made food and it'll be up to the consumer to buy it or not. Not like it would be the only option for us.

[@fredriddles1763]

I am curious to know how plastic eating bacteria would be controlled if it were released in nature. It would suck if food at grocery stores went bad prematurely because the plastic packaging started to rot away, or the parts in a car broke down more quickly. This is really cool though, and assuming the logistical problems could be resolved it be nice to dump that stuff into the ocean and watch all the plastic trash magically vanish.

[@goldraketub]

how many things still we don't know ? Nature as always is the best teacher !! but most of the time we do not listen ..I guess plastic problem sooner o later will be solved but still many things to fix in this world.. anyway as usual very nice video !! thank you BBC 🥰

[@joeldanielsson]

"life always finds a way"

[@ptanisaro]

Their discoveries deserve a Nobel Prize!! I am always concerned about the plastic waste I create daily. There are still so many plastic wastes that would never go through the recycling process. I don't want to leave this planet full of plastic waste to my descendants.

[@beethao9380]

You have no clue what you're talking about if you still think that plastic wastes go through the recycling process.

[@camojoe83]

If it was being recycled, you'd have cheap diesel. You don't recycle anything, and your fuel prices are set by the government of other countries. Neat, huh?

[@realdragon]

@@beethao9380 People will call this shit revolutionary and solution to our problem. The problem isn't that plastic exist but we generate and use more plastic, If we get rid of plastic now we will produce and throw away more. People are too comfortable with life they have now and want simple easy and lazy solution so rather than changing anything they do they would rather to create genetically modified worms (introducing new worms to environment totally won't have any effect /s)

[@yudistiraliem135]

We found a lot of organism that eat plastics, the main problem is the scale and the economies of things. I have mealworms that eats styrofoam, they can eat it but it’s not good for them. They only eat it when they’re starved and prefer other things and it takes them months to digest one small styrofoam containers. So yeah this is neither new nor breakthrough, the ones that will safe us not just biochemist but also enterpreneur, managers, marketers and accountants.

[@TheRestedOne]

@@realdragon It is revolutionary and a solution to our problem. You clearly stopped listening after the first minute. Scientists don’t need the worms, they want to synthesize their PETase enzymes. If you were diligent and not engaging in the easy and lazy solution of conplaining on the internet, you would have learned that PET breaks down into MHET and from MHETase into terephtalic acid. Terephtalic acid is a massive component of plastics manufacturing, over 30 million tonnes is in demand per year. The scientist in the clip said it was the “Trillion dollar question.” He’s absolutely right. A PETase recycling plant would rake in fantastic profit, which is the single biggest factor harming that industry: very marginal ROI. Work on your attention span. 2 minutes won’t win you any awards.

[@chitinskin9860]

While they are considered a plague to beekeepers, they typically aren't considered a threat to healthier hives, usually just making things worse whenever something else goes wrong like the bees get a virus or mites. On top of that, there are a lot of feral honeybees introduced to many locations in the world causing all kinds of issues, and waxworms harassing them is one of several factors that evens the playing field with other bee species that the waxworm doesn't care about. Personally I'd say that the pros outweigh the cons here and they should be released, at least outside of their native habitat (especially Australia and the Americas, especially South), but I'm also extremely biased against European honeybees for reasons both rational and irrational. Then again, waxworms are already roaming the wilds on their own, following the honeybees wherever they are introduced, so there's not really a point. I'd say that there should be some focus on getting wild waxworms to target plastic more often than they already do, maybe lining plastic bags with beeswax or something.

[@KodokuTenshiClan]

It's beautiful how the planet came up with a way to counter human's destruction. Go worms!

[@user-yr7xi1om3h]

Amazing

[@Donkeyballer]

Hearing something like this just makes me smile😊

[@WhereOceansMeeet]

Considering that other vanillian can be made from wood pulp, manure, and other things, this isn't too surprising. As someone who recycles everything I can, I'm glad to hear there are other ways in the works to help deal with plastic. Now if we could only figure out how to deal with styrofoam and other things that don't break down as well, but hopefully some day!

[@yakzivz1104]

this is freaking gross and i don't think that the majority of people are okay with it.

[@theplumscrub1627]

@@yakzivz1104 It’s the same as recycling water. Even if these things were once gross, like urine for example, when they are changed they don’t retain any of that original grossness. If they did retain that grossness, then all the water in the world would be unclean. (This is just the best example i can give)

[@yakzivz1104]

@@theplumscrub1627 I still don't want plastic in my darn food. Certain things should not be mixed with food.

[@theplumscrub1627]

@@yakzivz1104 I don’t want plastic in my food either. That’s why they’re working on figuring out how to break down the plastic and restructure it until it is no longer plastic!

[@yakzivz1104]

@@theplumscrub1627 Look all these companies have to do is stop making plastic all together. The plastic that is already all over our planet can be eaten by these worms or recycled then eaten by these worms. There is absolutely no reason to reconstitute plastic into our foods- that is not a viable option. We have to stop this madness.

[@KJX13]

Wow awesome..

[@user-or2bw6hh8e]

the idea of it being used as a sub for vanilla is ridiculous, but in medication capsules is cool. the fact that they were able to find this "gold mine" of info is as good as it gets. hurrah!!!

[@lindaward3156]

how amazing this has the potential to be!

[@akkiskiller]

We can also recycle waste PET Bottles into filaments for 3D printing application. I am researching on it!

[@Sha_r_ath_S]

I feel so proud as a biotechnology student ❤

[@sandponics]

There was a time 300 million years ago when trees first grew, that the lignin in wood could not be broken down. Then something happened and molds developed that could break down the lignin, plus the massive amounts of wood began to turn into coal.

[@thehowlingterror]

Nature has always held the keys to innovation. Probably a good idea to look after it...just thinking about the amount of useful medicines obtained from forests.

[@infomercialwars]

I used to keep hundreds of wax worms and super worms for my bearded dragons and noticed back then that they easily ate through certain plastics and styrofoam

[@Thisisaweirdthing2makeusdo]

Yeah the styrofoam was always weird choice of snack but i have seen it too.

[@beethao9380]

sure sure. you're like the 100th person claiming to have discovered this. shame on you for trying to take the credit away from the scientist.

[@heroe1486]

​​​@@beethao9380 What do you see here is that would be unbelievable to witness for a random person ? What merit is there to take away ? It's mere observation that doesn't require any expensive or technical setup nor knowledge, just these worms and some plastic

[@thebobbrom7176]

I've been hearing about these worms since i was a little kid And yet nothing has ever happened with it

[@capt_bry]

here Does Real Vanilla Come From? The vanilla used in extracts and flavorings comes from the beans of the flowering orchid Vanilla planifolia. Nearly 80 percent of the world's vanilla supply is grown in Madagascar, a biodiversity hotspot known for its rare and unique wildlife.

[@foolydude4305]

Perhaps nature is stronger than we thought. Such an amazing adaptation. The future may actually be bright.

[@erdvilla]

I've seen termites doing something similar, I once had a table that was infested with the darn bugs, and when I was going to burn it I opened the drawer and saw a plastic bag I used to store some papers almost disintegrated because under it there were several of the termites munching on the wood, but seems they also took a liking for the bag because they were making paths on it, and seriously it was almost confetti. They didn't touch the papers because they dislike white paper. So after contemplating them having broken down a plastic bag I threw them into the fire.

[@ShyRo1466]

worms and termites arent the only ones tho , Curculionidae also eat plastic easily

[@vinniekay0967]

This could be potentially fantastic news for the world if we can reproduce these enzymes in bulk.

[@Crumbleanything]

True saviour

[@jeremyphelps5140]

It’s so good to see so much hope in these comments. I feel like my generation doesn’t have much to hope for, so this is such a huge breath of fresh air.

[@BestMods168]

🤡 comments by a bunch of people who dont know what they're talking about.

[@protercool8474]

I've been thinking about this recently in terms of microbes and microplastics. We've introduced an entirely new energy source into the ecosystem, on a massive scale. It's only natural that certain creatures able to break it down start to select for this. It's only a matter of time before it's common, eventually we will have a world where plastic can and will rot.

[@meoff7602]

Yup

[@daydreamingyou]

Nature will always find a way, but human need to know how to pause too, glad that people know more aware about this plastic problem. And I agree with the upcycling plastic, the recycling it into another plastic is not really a good.

[@yahwea]

As to vanillin, never! It does not have the full profile of vanilla. Interesting episode.

[@KD9-37]

YEA NATURE!! & CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE DOCTORS WHO MADE THE DISCOVERIES! AND BEST OF LUCK TO ALL THE TEAMS WORKING ON THESE SOLUTIONS!!

[@TheBelrick]

plastic. that stuff that makes sure that you get food and medicine. makes sure machinery runs, goods are produced. You know, that which without we all die. Do you know the definition of sociopath?

[@wlockuz4467]

Nature is truly humble. We screw with it upside down and yet it is the one that gives us solutions to our problems.

[@lilarrin1220]

Science is the study of nature to figure out how it works, so yes, literally all of our solutions come from nature.

[@nigeljohnson9820]

Many years ago, late 60s early 70s, there was a television program Doom Watch. One episode dealt with a bacteria that had evolved to "eat" plastic. This turned out to be a disaster, as resilient objects started to rapidly decompose. In one scene, a jet pilot crashed his aircraft as a result of his oxygen mask and connection hose dissolving as it is eaten by the bacteria. At the time this was complete science fiction, now, like many science fiction concepts, it maybe reality. One must consider if such a disaster scenario could become real life. We are used to plastics being stable, lasting practically forever. If some organism evolves to destroy plastics in days or weeks, what will happen to the packaging industry, and food safety? Will the next step be the development of packaging which are toxic to such bacteria, so we have somewhere to store milk and other perishables? How likely is it that we will create a new problem when our new stable plastic is found to be toxic to us as well? The problem of the huge amount of plastic in the world's oceans must be address. If nature or humans solve it by chemical/biological means, we could be exchanging one ecological disaster for yet another. It's a case of good intentions having unintended, and unforseen, consequences.

[@Snufkin224]

From what I have seen the problem with plastic is mostly with poor/unorganized countries not collecting the waste and let it float down the water ways.

[@nigeljohnson9820]

@@Snufkin224 you are right, but then the rich organised countries send the poor unorganized countries all their plastic rubbish to float down their rivers. In the UK we have a mostly enlightened middle class, that collect and sorts their rubbish, so the local councils can arrange collection, usually by one lorry, so that the carefully sorted rubbish can be muddled up again, and be sent to landfill, or exported to the aforementioned disorganised countries. Not that landfill is a particularly secure storage, as any passing motorist will testify. Such landfill sites are usually surrounded by landscaping of concealing trees, tastefully decorated with tattered and torn supermarket plastic bags. Sorry if I sound cynical, but the recycling publicity does not often describe reality. The value of the recycled waste being so very low. We are even happy to tolerate a huge mountain of electronics waste, provided we can buy the latest smartphone, with personal identity tracking spyware, and a list of features not that dissimilar to last year's model. Nothing like convincing the consumer to re-buy what they purchased just a year ago. The justification for scrapping yesterday's technological marvel, with its 100 million transistors: Because its sealed for life battery is flat, and no longer holds a charge.

[@aysmch622]

i think there will be good plastic that can compostable but is actually cannot withstand such heat,but there was real plastic (not compostable) was stable and can withstand heat so i think about single use plastic can use plastic that can compostable,but they can use real plastic for repeated use (like you put food,and you clean it and use it again) i see there many thing that we can subtitued like wood,steel etc ,but there some of it that i think more good to use plastic (repeated use) cause it is lightweigh but kinda strong material... i wil say,plastic is have to be reduced but not have to totally unused/gone there will be new plastic that can be compastible i'm 100% sure,but it is not stable if it use for heat food/drink like boiling water etc but i think for making it heatproof,and waterproof it is use box/carton with normal plastic (from renewable soure not from fossil fuel) lining on it,so it can be use for heat food/drink (like coffe etc) it still have plastic on it,but at least it is reduce the full plastic packaging,and it will be easy for the worms eating plastic to compost it (cause not many of the plastic lining)

[@rlalchanvine1792]

Yaay nature is our Parent afterall she takes care of us and she solves all our problems, she helps us to help her. What a beautiful arrangement!

[@Sufficient4UsIsAllah]

Don’t forget, nature is subject to God’s will.

[@diorme]

Best news heard from ages

[@alibiiana3919]

Like the first part not the second with the ice cream stuff.

[@pierrecurie]

Wasn't there some hype about styrofoam eating mealworms a few years ago? Supposedly they could eat 100% styrofoam and survive for several generations. Then suddenly nobody ever talked about them again. Any relation?

[@sleepyheadhollow]

It just might be that the researching groups are really small private organizations… and as they usually don’t get results “Here and Now”, the investments they receive are barely enough to speak about any proper advancements🥲

[@kapytanhook]

Government funding. It was never useful. But these guys like government money so they keep trying to get grants. If you want to recycle plastic you can burn it and have the co2 used by algea or trees. That route will always be most cost effective

[@ncooty]

The relation is that these "technology will soon save us" stories are recycled on a regular basis as a way to undercut efforts to legislate environmental protections. Cf. recycled stories on plastic-eating bacteria, plastic-eating worms, recycled plastic roads, bioplastics, etc. Wait about a year and you can read this story again, replete with all of the hopeful comments. We love stories that absolve us of responsibility.

[@laureloneiros1500]

Sussy

[@0SilentLeopard0]

Like any research, it gets talked about for a bit... then the media and the masses forget about it. But work is still being done behind the scenes. Some people dedicate their entire lives to research that few people know about. Maybe BBC is generating some media hype about it to get people interested and get the research a jump in funding.

[@YesterdaysMoose]

I saw a similar story about plastic eating organisms a few years back, I sincerely hope there have been some vast improvements and innovations. We are in a serious plastic crisis; it's in our earth, our oceans, our food, and ourselves. If a solution is not implemented soon, it will be beyond salvation.

[@KlausRiede]

True same sbout mealworms eating polystyrol

[@RafaelCardoso299]

This is so coooool !!!!!!!