Researchers find caterpillar that eats plastic bags

Scientists have found a caterpillar that has the ability to biodegrade polyethylene: one of the most used plastics in shopping bags. The caterpillar produces something that breaks the chemical bond, perhaps in its salivary glands or a symbiotic bacteria in its gut.
The next steps will be to try and identify the molecular processes in this reaction and see if the enzyme responsible can be isolated. As the molecular details of the process become known, the researchers say it could be used to devise a biotechnological solution on an industrial scale for managing polyethylene waste. An article about the research is published in Current Biology (News Item University of Cambridge, 24 April 2017).
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