Latest News

  • Home
  • Global
  • Plastic-Eating Caterpillars Could Become The Solution To Our Plastic Problem
Plastic-Eating Caterpillars Could Become The Solution To Our Plastic Problem
Monday, December 31, 2018 IST
Plastic-Eating Caterpillars Could Become The Solution To Our Plastic Problem

Plastic is undoubtedly one of the greatest menaces facing the world at the moment. There simply seems to be no feasible way of dealing with them. Burning them pollutes the air and burying them will damage the soil. You cannot even throw them into water bodies and live in peace.

 
 

Scientists around the world have been trying to figure out ways to tackle the plastic problem. Yet, it has to be admitted that there hasn’t been much success in this regard. The path that most scientific research follows is logical. By this, I mean that one thing leads to another in science and they are tied by strings of reason.
 
Yet, sometimes, pretty unexpected things come up. It wouldn’t even be wrong to say that such unexpected occurrences change the world and change science as a whole. Remember Newton and his apple? Something similar has happened yet again.
 
A paper published recently in the Current Biology journal has revealed the existence of a certain moth that can eat plastic. Yes! You read it right. They literally chew and gulp plastic down as you’d do with a sandwich or something.
 
Federica Bertocchini – a Spanish biologist at the University of Cantabria and an amateur bee-keeper – noticed some caterpillars lapping up honey from her hives. Deciding to observe them, she put them in a plastic bag and took them home with her.
 
However, the caterpillars meant to surprise her and they executed it very well. A while later, she found out that the caterpillars had made many holes in the packet and had escaped onto her floor.
 
She identified these caterpillars as larvae of a common hive pest, known as the Greater Wax Moth. Their escape sparked the idea that they could indeed help with the garbage disposal.
 
In the past, other organisms had been tested for this capability to eat plastic. Yet, even the best among them took a long time. This one was fast. Really fast!
 
Consequently, Bertocchini undertook an experiment along with biologists Christopher Howe and Paolo Bombelli from Cambridge University. It was found that many plastics have chemical bonds similar to bee-wax. Only some organisms, like this one, have the enzymes needed to break these methylene bridges. This is one of the reasons why plastic is non-biodegradable.
 
 

 
 

Since polyethylene is arguably the toughest of all plastics, the trio conducted the experiment using this material. In earlier tests, the bacteria Nocardia asteroides took around six-months to decompose polyethylene. Like the scientists themselves, you’d be surprised to know the time taken by the wax moth for the same task. They made holes in less than 40 minutes. Yes, not even an hour but only 40 minutes.
 
On an average, they chewed 2.2 three mm. holes in an hour. In half a day (12 hours) these caterpillars could devour a milligram of the material. In a month, a hundred such caterpillars could finish eating one 3-gram polyethylene bag.
 
It’s still not known whether the plastic does any good to the moths themselves. Many other factors, including the toxicity of their feces, have to be taken into consideration before these are officially accepted as plastic decomposers.
 
Anyhow, the findings undoubtedly open up the prospects of a plastic free world.

 
 
 
 
 

Related Topics

 
 
 

Trending News & Articles

 Article
'Worse than prison': A rare look inside China's detention camps to 'brainwash' Muslims

ALMATY: Hour upon hour, day upon day, Omir Bekali and other detainees in far western China's new indoctrination camps had to disavow the...

Recently posted . 199K views . 1 min read
 

 Article
What The Shape Of Your Belly Button Says About Your Health

If you have payed attention to the belly buttons of people on the beach or the members of your family, you have probably noticed that they have different shapes and...

Recently posted . 8K views . 2 min read
 

 Article
Top 10 Horrifying Acts of Chemical Warfare and Gas Attacks

In this age of terror, there might be nothing more terrifying than the thought of an attack carried out with chemical weapons. We’ve all heard the horrific ...

Recently posted . 3K views . 4 min read
 

 Article
Top 10 Best Gym Equipment Brands in India 2018

Body fitness is one thing that everyone wants to maintain irrespective of age. Going to the gym and doing some great exercise always helps to maintain your body fit...

Recently posted . 3K views . 2 min read
 

 
 

More in Global

 Article
Teen boy who survived on French fries, Pringles, white bread loses sight

WASHINGTON: French fries, white bread and Pringles might sound scrumptious but the combination turned out to be something else for a teenager. ...

Recently posted. 618 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
UAE Man Jailed For Jokingly Calling Fiancee 'Idiot' In WhatsApp Message

He claims he used the word in jest, but his fiancee took offence

Recently posted. 607 views . 0 min read
 

 Article
Science Reveals 7 Hobbies That Make You Smarter

Through several centuries, humans believed that your talents could only be god-gifted. They thought we were born with a certain IQ level, and that was it. Today w...

Recently posted. 664 views . 1 min read
 

 Video
Amazing facts about Pakistan in hindi



Recently posted . 810 views
 

 Video
The Village With Small Feet



Recently posted . 760 views
 

 Reviews
Leaseweb hosting review



Recently posted . 1K views . 67 min read
 

 Article
Our sun will never look the same again thanks to two solar probes and one giant telescope

It's always sunny for heliophysicists, but especially so now.

Recently posted. 574 views . 0 min read
 

 Article
Robert Downey Jr Plans To Save The Planet With Robots & Artificial Intelligence

We could be watching another Iron Man movie here.

Recently posted. 634 views . 0 min read
 

 
 
 

   Prashnavali

  Thought of the Day

हार और जीत जिंदगी के एक कटु सत्य हैं, इन्हें उमंग से पार करना सीखो.
Anonymous

Be the first one to comment on this story

Close
Post Comment
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST


ads
Back To Top