They were curious as to how an insect could seemingly eat plastic, and found those two very interesting enzymes were dissolving the plastic. They had put them into a plastic refuse bag, only to find the bugs started eating the bag, leaving holes everywhere. An amateur beekeeper (who also happens to be a professional scientist) was cleaning out a hive infested with the larvae. How on earth did we make this discovery? / How did we find out that wax worms can dissolve plastic?Īs with many great things, we figured this out by chance. If there’s a bit of flexibility in your plastic, chances are there’s polyethylene involved. It’s used in everything from squeezy bottles to bin bags. Significantly, it’s also the most commonly produced plastic in the world right now, accounting for about 30% of plastic worldwide. The wax worm’s saliva contains two enzymes that can degrade (fancy word for dissolve or decompose) polyethylene, a solid but flexible plastic. Like wax worms, a type of moth larva that infests beehives, which might be the answer to many of the planet’s plastic problems. Some insects always have been, and some we’re finding out, might very well soon be. These bugs are essential for life as we know it. For instance, in a tablespoon of soil there’s more living organisms than there are people on planet earth.
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