A plastic bottle might take 450 years. Dental floss might take decades. But in a Harvard lab, a recently discovered microbe can begin to break down virtually any type of plastic within days.

Interventions involving bacteria or fungi could help to sequester greenhouse gases, create more sustainable products and ...

Bacteria which have been shown to degrade and assimilate plastic, has been a key area of international research since 2016. Now a University of Manchester-based team of scientists have made a ...

A chance discovery made by a scientist and amateur beekeeper has led to a potentially game-changing discovery in the biodegrading of polyethylene, a plastic used in shopping bags which clog up ...

The dietary plastics score lacked a maximum because the scoring matrix did not limit the number of eating occasions or food items. Nevertheless, a lower score implied lower (dietary) plastic exposure.

When plastic entered the design world in the 20th century, it was hailed as a wonder material—something strong, durable, lightweight, affordable, and malleable enough to sculpt into expressive ...

Recent research highlights that eating from plastic takeout containers may elevate the risk of congestive heart failure due to gut microbiota changes and inflammation. The study, comprising 3,000 ...

PHOTOGRAPH BY SHAWN MILLER “The really sad thing about this is that they’re eating plastic thinking it’s food,” says Matthew Savoca, a marine biologist with the National Oceanic and ...

Researchers recently coined the term ‘plasticosis,’ a condition that’s causing seabirds’ digestive tracts to become scarred from eating pieces of plastic. Now the same team, along with ...

Federica Bertocchini at the Margarita Salas Center for Biological Research and her colleagues have isolated unique, plastic-eating enzymes from the saliva of wax worms. These biological agents ...

Fresh funds to support Epoch's first plant, the expansion of its plastic-eating enzyme library, and partnerships with fashion, automotive, and chemical firms Epoch Biodesign has announced it has ...