Introducing Microbes

This microbe makes a meal of plastic

Newly identified bacterium decomposes common landfill plastic

PET bottles

The newly identified bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis can break down and eat bits of a polymer called PET, which is used to make plastic bottles like those seen here.

gavran333/iStockphoto

By Sarah Schwartz

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Microbes

  1. Dermasterias imbricata
    Animals

    Some bacteria are suffocating sea stars, turning the animals to goo

    By Erin Garcia de Jesus
  2. Black-legged tick
    Health & Medicine

    How some ticks protect themselves from deadly bacteria on human skin

    By Erin Garcia de Jesus
  3. a photo of clouds
    Microbes

    50 years ago, scientists suspected microbes flourished in clouds

    By Cassie Martin
  4. Plasmodium falciparum
    Microbes

    How malaria parasites hide from the human immune system

    By Erin Garcia de Jesus
  5. a photo of a hot spring
    Life

    Life on Earth may have begun in hostile hot springs

    By Jack J. Lee
  6. Mouse mom with pups
    Neuroscience

    A mother mouse’s gut microbes help wire her pup’s brain

    By Carolyn Wilke
  7. a microscopic image of Naegleria fowleri
    Microbes

    50 years ago, scientists were on the trail of a brain-eating amoeba

    By Maria Temming
  8. New Zealand wine grape field
    Agriculture

    How does a crop’s environment shape a food’s smell and taste?

    By Carolyn Beans

From the Nature Index

Paid Content