exactly, that's how people become "anti-science" thinking they either have to believe all science or no science. that's stupid. science is simply experiments designed to eliminate inaccuracy. but as with all things, some research is trustworthy whereas other research such as ones funded by oil companies are not.
You want everything plastic in your home to begin to rot? No thanks If this becomes widespread that's what you're looking at. will we have to either produce more plastic to replace it constantly or give up all plastic and revert to metal or wood possibly even bakelite
@@jacobkudrowich Have you seen the research or videos on micro plastics all around the world? Plastic is everywhere, even in places we’d never imagine and the only planet to host life that we know of in the visible Universe is just gonna have to adapt and overcome because we need all these cheap plastic items.. What we need is to take down the puppeteers that control and dictate how our society runs. Their involvement in suppressing technology has hindered us and our world greatly and we’ll never truly progress with these blinders and restrictions steering us in wrong directions in the name of profit, power and greed.. Point is our lives could be better if it weren’t for the powers that be. Technology, environment, standard of living, health.. All could be greatly improved with the right “incentives”.
@@sammysaito529 Yes. I did. Don't be a condescending prick. But you miss the point of my comment. Just because this would be commercially available doesn't explain why the OP wants this. My counter arguement is that presumably she feels a sense of guilt for the current state of plastic proliferation; yet, in reality this is due to corporations shifting the blame and only considering things nearsightedly.
How to collect PET-bottles: Use the German deposit system. When byuing beverages in PET-bottles and aluminium-cans an aditional fee of 25 cents per container is added on their price, which you'll get back when returning the empty containers into a machine, which sorts and shreds them. The same machines also collect glass-bottles, which gets you back 8 cents each.
Plastic may make up most of our waste... But it also forms a large amount of crucial components in many many technologies... If nature evolves to break it down then we're kinda screwed in the long run...
@@RBsRealm No we aren't. We're screwed if we keep polluting and destroying the planet. We can create tech that doesn't kill the planet to replace those that do. I will take a living, healthy planet over tech every day.
I don't know man... we've heard of things like this for years now but nothing really had a good end. I'm starting to lose hope because clearly money don't want to go in this direction.
@elijah mikle a valid point about the media , however scientists are also guilty of overstating things and giving false hope .... largely in a desire to get funding I suspect .
If the enzymes are already found in nature that means Nature has already found a solution for the problem which probably means that plastic will start decomposing and the nature will take care of the problem itself within a decade because it's literally feeding itself using plastic and if we keep upping the concentration of plastic, then more and more bacteria that eat plastic are going to bloom until they reach equilibrium with our annual plastic waste
well, you see, argument of hygiene can be made there honestly though, given how much USA drinks coke, i'm kind of surprised that they don't just sell coke in reusable gallons instead
@ it wasn’t about the subject, it was the fact his job is being a journalist and it’s off putting and strange for a professional to be reading the script off the side of the camera
@@Me-xh9yg his job doesn't make any difference. This video is completely free for you to watch. You are In no way entitled to a high quality presentation for him. He doesn't owe you anything and you should be thankful you have a free source for this information in the first place. Stop thinking you should be entitled to things for free.
This reminds me of a Sci-Fi book I read back in the 1970's called "Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters". A lab develops a microbe that digests plastic and of course, some of it gets washed down the drain and escapes. It first makes its presence known by eating all the insulation off of telephone and electrical wiring leaving bubbly gooey sludge. Eventually it starts spreading and coming up peoples sink drains and other unexpected places. I can't remember the end clearly, but the story has stuck in my head for many decades. One of my favorite reads back when I was a kid. Wouldn't mind finding and reading it again.
"We are addicted to single use plastic." No, we aren't. Manufacturers are addicted to making products with plastic. Stop manufacturers from using plastic solutions for their products and it gives the consumer no choice when making a purchase
I would say that plastic is marvelous and almost everything you use in your life daily is made of plastic. So.. just separating the trash is the most beneficial thing you could do 😁
@@MP-ut6eb uhhh electric cars are far better than petrol and diesel. You're argument is kinda flawed when you also consider both have to be manufactured.
Admit It, We Are Addicted To Single Use Plastics. Watch It, In The Next Few Hours Or The Next Day... Right After You Finished Reading My Comments, Whether If You're Getting Some Snacks Or Soft Drinks, You'll Be Having Them In Your Hands. They Will Only Stop Making, When WE STOP BUYING That Certain Heavily Packaged Product Or Demand The Owners Of Your Local Stores To Buy Plastics That Are Manufactured To Decompose Easily. It All Boils Down To Simple Social Engineering Of Supply And Demand, If None Of You Understand That Simple Fact, Nothing Will.
@@ArticBlueFox96 Also unlikely that we'd (intentionally) dump it into nature without a hell of a lot of research about its effects on non-plastics. Sounds like it would mostly be a thing used within recycling plants (so it wouldn't help us clean up the oceans, but it would reduce the amount we're adding to the problem every year.)
I suspect a scenario like that would fuse plastic to behave like wood. Wood may be similar, it has plenty of wood eating microbes, but rot and decay only occurs in consistently wet conditions, or weathering can occur due to UV.
My first thought was of the novel "ill wind" by Kevin J. Anderson, where in tried bacteria like that on an oil spill but it spread uncontrollably and destroyed all petroleum based products around the world costing us all back a couple hundred years of technology.
I have known about this for months by this channel its called "just have a think" also last year, south afrika did the first in the world middle ear implant using 3d technology just saying this, because there is no news out there about this, and i have no idea why?
@@Arkaryon1 I'm sure that's the case, because no bacteria on earth makes the enzyme they're talking about in the video. The bacteria makes half the enzyme. But my question was way beyond this enzyme into potential consequences of creating a super plastic eating bacteria.
@@metalcake2288 the bacteria produces both enzymes but not as a fusion product due to size restrictions of the translational process. The recombinant protein itself for future purposes will be generated in larger quantities in another cell line which has no use for the protein. So there won't be a species with this ability that can either survive outside of the lab or keep that genetic information.
It's interesting that there'll be an entire new branch of life that is almost entirely reliant on human by-products in the future. Really solidifies humans as part of the ecology of the world.
Does anyone remember an episode from an environmentally focused cartoon where scientists made a creature that ate pollution? Once it got out of the lab, the more pollution that it ate, it got larger and larger and one of the characters warned that if it got to the landfill it would be unstoppable and would eat everything until there’s nothing left but a planet of living garbage. I’m not so sure if a plastic eating enzyme is the way to deal with the plastic garbage problem. We would be better off making less plastic and using alternatives to plastic. such as a glass canning jar with a metal lid and ring.
You’re saying that the compound created by the bacteria is somehow also able to undergo a chemical reaction that also breaks down a wide variety of compounds? 🤨🤨🤨
Was just about to say the same thing. A script should only need to be bullet points of the things you want to cover, all the filler words in between he should be able to make up as he goes and make it feel far more natural.
Two problems: 1) Very few people actually take the trouble to recycle, and 2) how will we prevent this bacterium from getting out into the wild where it can and no doubt will damage plastics that are still in use?
@@massimookissed1023 i doubt they are going to chemically synthesize such a big protein. They'll produce it in bacteria or other cell lines and extract the enzyme. But I doubt as well that they'll use bacteria directly
Within days sounds good enough to me. You just have different vats at different stages and cycle them. Its like growing trees. If it takes 20 years to maturaity you divide your land into 20 areas. Each year you harvest one area which you then plant the next nursery when its cleared. With 20 areas you always have a yearly supply of trees to deliver
Three major changes we need to see in recycling: 1. Legislate what products can use plastic and in what ways. If it's cheaper to use plastic instead of glass, but glass/paper/wood/mushroom would work just as well, we should de-incentivize plastic use. 2. Legislate that plastic products must be able to be broken down easily into their respective components (e.g. not mixing different types of plastics and other materials that make it difficult to recycle). 3. Add deposits on all recyclable products and create automated recycling depots that automatically sort and refund deposits to individual's accounts.
Great to deal with waste, Just worried this could one day be misused on non waste plastic. Some nutter could cause serious damage if they develop and speed this up this bacteria and it becomes widely available.
Yes the main problem is that most of the plastic is not getting to the Recycle-Plant!!!! There must be a fine on throwing away plastic, and a bonus for bringing it back!!!!
But, the metabolic waste kills the bacteria. We've tried this with sawdust and the bacteria from the cow. It's easy to get the process started but it can't be sustained.
To me it sounds as though the enzymes will be separated from the bacteria culture and then applied to the plastic substrate without bacteria being present
Why is nobody talking about micro plastics coming off our clothes and going straight into steam and rivers. I thought this was a huge problem because can get into our food and are small enough to pass the blood brain barrier. All developed Nations should put laws in place to make sure waste water coming out washing machines is filled. And get the clothing industry to make more environmental friendly clothing, that won't slowly poison our water and the food we eat.
3:30 Just copy Finland. We put a 0.20€ to 0.40€ collateral on every plastic bottles and 0.15€ collateral on aluminium cans so what that does is increase the price by that much of those products but you can take them to any store, where they have these recycling machines and you get your collateral back when you put the bottles and cans there. 99% of grocery stores have these machines, they get paid to keep them. In effect since everyone has a monetary incentive to return the bottles to these machines, around 99% of our bottles and cans are recycled. It's also good because if you are low on cash in Finland, you can always recycle bottles and cans that you find, so people actually look for trash to recycle. That's basically free labor for the municipality which otherwise would have to hire people to collect them. Put a collateral on them, put recycling machines in stores and voila. You solve recycling. It works like magic. One of the best systems i now of.
What most environmentalists forget, doing stuff for the good of all isn't going to convince everyone, we are not all altruistic. By providing an incentive, now that can convince people, rely on the self-serving aspect of ourselves to convince others.
I think that is the key, development of plastics that can more easily be broken down by these enzymes. Maybe with some kind of starter kit built in (for lack of a better description) the plastic could begin to breakdown itself or set the stage
imagine if in a hundred years the world is left as some desolate wasteland, the bacteria we thought would save us from plastic overconsumption has spiralled out of control, and it's now a giant green gooey super-organism growing and covering everything in sight (jk)
@@iCore7Gaming well a little mishap in a lab experimenting on synthesizing these enzymes with the help of bacteria and we could end up with a strain of bacteria that gives you a nasty respiratory infection that causes your sneezes and coughs to dissolve plastics...
You are obviously reading a script below the camera. Two tips I have are to move the camera further away (and possibly zoom in to compensate) and make your text smaller (not necessarily a smaller font, but smaller in width on your screen and scroll more to compensate).
@@CreativeBuilds thanks asshole. I've checked, here's what wiki says: "According to a comprehensive review of scientific evidence published by the European Union's Scientific Advice Mechanism in 2019, "little is known with respect to the human health risks of nano- and microplastics, and what is known is surrounded by considerable uncertainty""
I remember when I was a child these bacteria eating oil and plastic where a thing. Almost 20 years ago I read about it and now I watch it in a new video.
You know, the funny thing is, as a boy scout about 10 years ago, I had the idea of having a bacteria that would "eat" the plastic waste. It's a shame that the idea I had thought at that time and was discredited as impossible became possible, but either way, I am at least a little happy. At the time I had even went as far as to speak to some people who I knew that worked with the government about my idea but they said we were "years" away from that sort of thing. Anyway, I hope that plastics become less of an issue now and that eventually, it can be commercial.
You have it backwards. The people at the recycling plant found the enzyme on plastic. They then realized that a bacteria that normally produced an enzyme that breaks down the natural plastic found on plant leaves had mutated and can now produce an enzyme that can break down PET. They then tried to reverse engineer it to its original form to gain enough understanding to be able to improve on its ability to break down plastic making it faster. They failed to return it to its original non mutated form but instead improved it to a stronger form. Read the original article.
Scientists: “We found an enzyme that can eat through plastic, and can be used to remake said plastic! Therefore, we don’t need to keep making new plastic!” Petroleum lobbyists: “...they know too much.”
I wonder why they say not to reuse disposable bottles like Arrowhead or Dasani because I usually fill them up throughout the entire day and then at night I crush them up and recycle them
Did you notice he says 20x faster etc. But never tells you, actually how long it takes to break down the higher grade plastic ! If it's still not commercially viable , that means it still take years to degrade!
What about the fungi decomposing (plastics)? One can make something like hat leather out of a certain fungus, or even bricks and certailny further materials, so that plastic muncher would surely deserve some attention due to this topic. Maybe combined with those mentionned bacteria
What would be the ecological consequences if you just dumped a bunch of this stuff onto floating plastic in the oceans? I am assuming it would be worse than the benefits.
It would be too low concentration to really do anything. And there would need to be the right conditions for the enzyme to be created in order for the reaction to go on long enough to constantly get rid of the new plastic china and india keep dumping in the oceans/rivers. Then you have to be careful about what the enzyme might do to the eco system itself.
There was a sci-fi story decades ago - I don't think it is The Andromeda Strain - where scientists created a plastic-eating bacteria. It escapes the lab, of course. One scene I recall is where a man gets on an airplane to go to the other coast, and as he's writing with his pen he realizes it's beginning to melt in his hands. He starts freaking out and trying not to touch anything, but it's too late: other parts of the plane begin to melt. So this video gives me a tad more worry than I had before.
Hello to the awesomee person who sees this, may you have a great day full of love and warmth! Love truly from a mini artist youtuber!👍 live your life to the fullest
Huh? Is this a repost? I feel like I have seen or heard of this already. Anyways great though! Also I love this host but he should sit further from the camera... It's very obvious that he is reading. Makes the face shots not as nice...
I've read about an enzyme that is 10000 times more efficient at breaking down PET than natural PETase (it could break down 90% of 200 grams of PET in 10 hours). It was reported on in April. Don't know for sure how these two compare though. But I guess the one from half a year ago is better? 10000 times more efficient: www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/huge-step-forward-mutant-enzyme-could-vastly-improve-recycling-plastic-bottles this video: www.sciencefocus.com/news/super-enzyme-breaks-down-plastic-bottles-in-a-matter-of-days/
Break down. Where is all "mass" of plastic is going to go ? As I understand, breaking down means: Big chunk gets shredded in to small pieces. It at weighs the same.
Reminds me of Arjuna Earth Maiden. Such bacterias went out and started to disassemble plastics all around causing chemicals to end up in rivers. In the anime they at least had a supernatural being to help ;)
I saw this research few days ago and what I don't get is why something that can be 6x faster to eat plastic is not yet in use. If it takes 450 years now in nature, why not using what we have now as a start?
The more amazing thing about this is how bacteria were able to break down plastics. This just proves nature is also fighting back as a response against human actions. Of course, most likely human actions are still impacting mother nature more
The only way I can think of as helping it along is breaking the crystalized structure by using solvents to turn it into a anmorphous goo that the enzymes can break down faster unfortunately the solvent can probaly distroy the structure of the enzyme
Could this also be the reason that scientists have just disclosed that the human body digests nano plastic from drinking bottled water? Could this same bacteria be present in bottled water and is slowly breaking down the bottle?
I don’t know you, but I kept my ps1 in the closet for like 10 years and some years ago when I was cleaning the closet I’ve found it and the plastic parts were totally eaten by some kind of bacteria or fungus leaving some disgusting residue behind, appears that the bacteria came from the dualshock because it where the part that most decomposed
As a much easier alternative to the dye problem for recycling, how about a law that makes all big companies use dye free transparent plastic bottles only?
This seems really promising. However, given the scale of plastic waste and the scale of at which this enzyme will be used, a before hand estimation what knock off effect large scale use could have.
Phoenix Arizona here. I left my kids toy in the backyard for a couple of years then I went to retrieve it and the thing disintegrated in my hands maybe a plastic should be shipped to Arizona to decompose in a couple of years under our sun.
Technology is really awesome nowadays. Maybe soon someone could invent an inert material to build a liquid transport device, which is reusable many times. can be recycled, releases no endocrine disruptors into the liquid as PET does and you can look through it like a window to see how much liquid is left once opened. That would be so cool and sustainable. If i would be such a genius i would call it glass bottle, but hey that's just a dream.
Speed up the entire process by embedding the bacterium and enzyme (if safe) into the plastic and print a "use by" date on the bottles. People won't want wet sticky shelves or refrigerators and they will buy less and use it more rapidly, and recycle it more rapidly. At some time in our future, we should require all products to be recycled by their manufacturers. Waste not want not.
It could end many of the advances we have. We rely on plastic for city water lines and siding and for medical uses. If plastic can be eaten then it's no longer safe from attack from bacteria and such.
-Plastic is already in wildlife, farm animals, and us. (even seeker made a vid of it) - how would this affect them/us? -Not addicted to plastic but whatever you buy is buried in giant plastic packaging. That should be regulated.
There are many other plastics in use besides PET. And it depends on whether the bacteria or the enzyme alone will be used for that purpose. Releasing GMO bacteria is not an easy process. Using the enzyme alone will definitely avoid your concern.
Problem? Where i live in Ohio, even though you recycle, sort and put it into the recycling bin, they no longer recycle because it cost too much over putting it into a landfill. It's going to take legislation to force states to actually "recycle" the waste stream. It doesn't even have to be this involved. Plastic bricks and pavers, sidewalk slabs can all be made by melting and adding sand then extrusion into molds. Low texh solutions that would create jobs and a viable product for use. Currently we are f'd and will be until we stop throwing the recyclables into a hole, like our heads.
Quit saying ‘scientists’ like they’re abstract entities. Say what company, university, branch of the military, etc., that they are from.
exactly, that's how people become "anti-science" thinking they either have to believe all science or no science. that's stupid. science is simply experiments designed to eliminate inaccuracy. but as with all things, some research is trustworthy whereas other research such as ones funded by oil companies are not.
i agree with this
it would be interesting to know who is behind it and do more research on this or just check on progress
When he says scientist I think he means like in multiple universities or labs but idk
It said the University of Portsmouth in the bottom left corner
This. Just this. I hate "half-facts" as I call them.
This is literally the best news I've heard in a while. Can't wait for this technology to become widespread!
@Adymn Sani Bring it on!
You want everything plastic in your home to begin to rot? No thanks
If this becomes widespread that's what you're looking at. will we have to either produce more plastic to replace it constantly or give up all plastic and revert to metal or wood possibly even bakelite
@@jacobkudrowich Hemp plastic?
@@jacobkudrowich Have you seen the research or videos on micro plastics all around the world? Plastic is everywhere, even in places we’d never imagine and the only planet to host life that we know of in the visible Universe is just gonna have to adapt and overcome because we need all these cheap plastic items.. What we need is to take down the puppeteers that control and dictate how our society runs. Their involvement in suppressing technology has hindered us and our world greatly and we’ll never truly progress with these blinders and restrictions steering us in wrong directions in the name of profit, power and greed.. Point is our lives could be better if it weren’t for the powers that be. Technology, environment, standard of living, health.. All could be greatly improved with the right “incentives”.
nolinaGirlasia.link
I wish it was commercially available already.
Why?
@@Gnefitisis
To reduce plastic, did you even watched the video?
@@sammysaito529 Yes. I did. Don't be a condescending prick.
But you miss the point of my comment. Just because this would be commercially available doesn't explain why the OP wants this. My counter arguement is that presumably she feels a sense of guilt for the current state of plastic proliferation; yet, in reality this is due to corporations shifting the blame and only considering things nearsightedly.
@@Gnefitisis Blame everything on corporations? You really are a shallow condescending prick.
@@scottn7cy You are so late stage capitalism that you get off on being ignorant?
I can't even imagine being so socioeconomically cucked. xD
How to collect PET-bottles: Use the German deposit system.
When byuing beverages in PET-bottles and aluminium-cans an aditional fee of 25 cents per container is added on their price, which you'll get back when returning the empty containers into a machine, which sorts and shreds them. The same machines also collect glass-bottles, which gets you back 8 cents each.
Actually it’s not German. The deposit return scheme was first started in 1799 by A & R Thwaites & Co in Dublin, Ireland.
we have that system in the netherlands too!
we have that system in (parts) of the US too
Having dealt with many large plastic companies, I’ve always heard the letters pronounced, like “Pee Eee Tee”, not the word “pet”
I was thinking the exact same thing lol
Thought the same too
yah. Also pronounced Polyethylene terephthalate wrong as well.
that's the way I pronounce it too. "pet" sounds weird
@@laur-unstagenameactuallyca1587 pronouncing it that way could also get it confused with Peat Moss
Nature evolving to clean up our mess, and us redeeming ourselves by helping to clean up our own mess. 2020 needed this good news.
agreed.
Plastic may make up most of our waste...
But it also forms a large amount of crucial components in many many technologies...
If nature evolves to break it down then we're kinda screwed in the long run...
Ummm. This isn’t a ‘nature evolving’ event ppl. Its a laboratory thing.
@@RBsRealm No we aren't. We're screwed if we keep polluting and destroying the planet. We can create tech that doesn't kill the planet to replace those that do. I will take a living, healthy planet over tech every day.
@Thermoplasmatales picrophilus thanks for clarifying!
"scientist have created a new super..." is the beginning exposition of quite a few stories in Science Fiction.
😂🤣😂 ~ Thanks for that!
Hahah
The enzyme becomes sentient and eats human kind
And also of every scientific progress :)
An old story, read “Mutant 59, The Plastic Eaters”.
I don't know man... we've heard of things like this for years now but nothing really had a good end. I'm starting to lose hope because clearly money don't want to go in this direction.
my thoughts exactly
Scientists tend to overstate things which give people false hopes .
Once it becomes more profitable to recycle, then I'm sure companies will start to scramble to turn garbage into money.
@elijah mikle a valid point about the media , however scientists are also guilty of overstating things and giving false hope .... largely in a desire to get funding I suspect .
If the enzymes are already found in nature that means Nature has already found a solution for the problem which probably means that plastic will start decomposing and the nature will take care of the problem itself within a decade because it's literally feeding itself using plastic and if we keep upping the concentration of plastic, then more and more bacteria that eat plastic are going to bloom until they reach equilibrium with our annual plastic waste
Happy to hear such a positive news :) bless you all, wishing you peace and safety
Man why do I keep feeling that this is going to get out of control and end up making the world worse
Shh don't say that...
I have a lot of money riding on this pony. 😂
Not only are the people of Japan advanced but also their microorganisms 😂😂
Some of the nuclear fallouts that happened there probably also helped... ;-)
That was really funny
😂
Yes, we’re addicted to all those single use plastics in hospitals for sure.
well, you see, argument of hygiene can be made there
honestly though, given how much USA drinks coke, i'm kind of surprised that they don't just sell coke in reusable gallons instead
@@aronseptianto8142 glass is and always will be reusable. Endlessly.
@@johnathanfowlds7587 *recyclable. They're more likely to break before their reuse cycle even starts
@@roy04 well. I mean. How weak is it. Cause I've never broken anything glass without using force.
@Thermoplasmatales picrophilus what?
Is anyone else thrown off by how noticeable his script reading is because of how close he is?
Yes lol. Homeboy needs some note cards
All he has to do is put the script under the camera so even if he take peek it’s going to be more natural..
I was thrown way off, idk where I am anymore
@ it wasn’t about the subject, it was the fact his job is being a journalist and it’s off putting and strange for a professional to be reading the script off the side of the camera
@@Me-xh9yg his job doesn't make any difference. This video is completely free for you to watch. You are In no way entitled to a high quality presentation for him. He doesn't owe you anything and you should be thankful you have a free source for this information in the first place. Stop thinking you should be entitled to things for free.
Happy to hear this news!
Oh dang! I went to college w the presenter of this video. He was a good dude! Glad to see he's doing well
This reminds me of a Sci-Fi book I read back in the 1970's called "Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters". A lab develops a microbe that digests plastic and of course, some of it gets washed down the drain and escapes. It first makes its presence known by eating all the insulation off of telephone and electrical wiring leaving bubbly gooey sludge. Eventually it starts spreading and coming up peoples sink drains and other unexpected places. I can't remember the end clearly, but the story has stuck in my head for many decades. One of my favorite reads back when I was a kid. Wouldn't mind finding and reading it again.
I love Seeker! Their science content inspired my sci-fi/futurist channel!!
"We are addicted to single use plastic."
No, we aren't. Manufacturers are addicted to making products with plastic. Stop manufacturers from using plastic solutions for their products and it gives the consumer no choice when making a purchase
I would say that plastic is marvelous and almost everything you use in your life daily is made of plastic. So.. just separating the trash is the most beneficial thing you could do 😁
@@MP-ut6eb or just put it in the recycle like i do.
@@MP-ut6eb uhhh electric cars are far better than petrol and diesel. You're argument is kinda flawed when you also consider both have to be manufactured.
@@MP-ut6eb especially when you're car runs of renewable energy. And when fusion is finally developed we'll be fine.
Admit It, We Are Addicted To Single Use Plastics. Watch It, In The Next Few Hours Or The Next Day... Right After You Finished Reading My Comments, Whether If You're Getting Some Snacks Or Soft Drinks, You'll Be Having Them In Your Hands.
They Will Only Stop Making, When WE STOP BUYING That Certain Heavily Packaged Product Or Demand The Owners Of Your Local Stores To Buy Plastics That Are Manufactured To Decompose Easily. It All Boils Down To Simple Social Engineering Of Supply And Demand, If None Of You Understand That Simple Fact, Nothing Will.
Adds plastic eating bacteria in the ocean and dumps. 6 months later...my phone was eaten
That is why we are not engineering super bacteria to eat plastic, merely engineering enzymes from those bacteria. This will be a controlled process.
@@ArticBlueFox96 Also unlikely that we'd (intentionally) dump it into nature without a hell of a lot of research about its effects on non-plastics. Sounds like it would mostly be a thing used within recycling plants (so it wouldn't help us clean up the oceans, but it would reduce the amount we're adding to the problem every year.)
Good thing ET has phoned home already
I suspect a scenario like that would fuse plastic to behave like wood.
Wood may be similar, it has plenty of wood eating microbes, but rot and decay only occurs in consistently wet conditions, or weathering can occur due to UV.
My first thought was of the novel "ill wind" by Kevin J. Anderson, where in tried bacteria like that on an oil spill but it spread uncontrollably and destroyed all petroleum based products around the world costing us all back a couple hundred years of technology.
I have known about this for months by this channel its called "just have a think" also last year, south afrika did the first in the world middle ear implant using 3d technology just saying this, because there is no news out there about this, and i have no idea why?
"But how fast does it decompose live organisms?" asked no one!
Not at all
Imagine we develop a bacteria that eats plastic... Then we can't use plastic anymore because it rots too quickly.
@@metalcake2288 you can use the enzyme independently from the bacteria
@@Arkaryon1 I'm sure that's the case, because no bacteria on earth makes the enzyme they're talking about in the video. The bacteria makes half the enzyme. But my question was way beyond this enzyme into potential consequences of creating a super plastic eating bacteria.
@@metalcake2288 the bacteria produces both enzymes but not as a fusion product due to size restrictions of the translational process. The recombinant protein itself for future purposes will be generated in larger quantities in another cell line which has no use for the protein. So there won't be a species with this ability that can either survive outside of the lab or keep that genetic information.
It's interesting that there'll be an entire new branch of life that is almost entirely reliant on human by-products in the future. Really solidifies humans as part of the ecology of the world.
Does anyone remember an episode from an environmentally focused cartoon where scientists made a creature that ate pollution? Once it got out of the lab, the more pollution that it ate, it got larger and larger and one of the characters warned that if it got to the landfill it would be unstoppable and would eat everything until there’s nothing left but a planet of living garbage.
I’m not so sure if a plastic eating enzyme is the way to deal with the plastic garbage problem. We would be better off making less plastic and using alternatives to plastic. such as a glass canning jar with a metal lid and ring.
You’re saying that the compound created by the bacteria is somehow also able to undergo a chemical reaction that also breaks down a wide variety of compounds? 🤨🤨🤨
@@dinglesworld No. The enzyme just reminded me of something that happened in a cartoon.
It would be good if you werent so close to the camera so it was less obvious your reading the script .its quite distracting to watch ...
Was just about to say the same thing.
A script should only need to be bullet points of the things you want to cover, all the filler words in between he should be able to make up as he goes and make it feel far more natural.
i didnt mind it that much but i can understand how it can be distracting
@@ge2719 No.
@@xensonar9652 cheesecake
@@ge2719 idk man there’s an awful lot of complicated terms
Two problems: 1) Very few people actually take the trouble to recycle, and 2) how will we prevent this bacterium from getting out into the wild where it can and no doubt will damage plastics that are still in use?
Your second point might become a real issue.
Its already out in the wild, however it only seems to congregate in plastic landfills, so we good for now.
2) The plan is not to use bacteria, but to chemically synthesize the enzymes for use on an industrial scale.
@@massimookissed1023 i doubt they are going to chemically synthesize such a big protein. They'll produce it in bacteria or other cell lines and extract the enzyme. But I doubt as well that they'll use bacteria directly
@@massimookissed1023 That would work.
Within days sounds good enough to me. You just have different vats at different stages and cycle them.
Its like growing trees. If it takes 20 years to maturaity you divide your land into 20 areas. Each year you harvest one area which you then plant the next nursery when its cleared. With 20 areas you always have a yearly supply of trees to deliver
1:05 I thought those were condoms
Way too small :P
These responses are hilarious lol
Three major changes we need to see in recycling:
1. Legislate what products can use plastic and in what ways. If it's cheaper to use plastic instead of glass, but glass/paper/wood/mushroom would work just as well, we should de-incentivize plastic use.
2. Legislate that plastic products must be able to be broken down easily into their respective components (e.g. not mixing different types of plastics and other materials that make it difficult to recycle).
3. Add deposits on all recyclable products and create automated recycling depots that automatically sort and refund deposits to individual's accounts.
Would that work on plastic fishing nets? That's a huge issue, so I would be really interested to hear about that.
I think nets & ropes are polypropylene, so you'd probably need different enzymes.
@@massimookissed1023 Yeah thought so, guess we have to tackle it one plastic polymer at a time
Great to deal with waste, Just worried this could one day be misused on non waste plastic. Some nutter could cause serious damage if they develop and speed this up this bacteria and it becomes widely available.
Mutant 59: The Plastic Eater
Spot on!
I should have read down the comments before commenting :blush:.
Yes the main problem is that most of the plastic is not getting to the Recycle-Plant!!!! There must be a fine on throwing away plastic, and a bonus for bringing it back!!!!
But, the metabolic waste kills the bacteria. We've tried this with sawdust and the bacteria from the cow. It's easy to get the process started but it can't be sustained.
Sounds like a sourdough starter
To me it sounds as though the enzymes will be separated from the bacteria culture and then applied to the plastic substrate without bacteria being present
Why is nobody talking about micro plastics coming off our clothes and going straight into steam and rivers. I thought this was a huge problem because can get into our food and are small enough to pass the blood brain barrier. All developed Nations should put laws in place to make sure waste water coming out washing machines is filled. And get the clothing industry to make more environmental friendly clothing, that won't slowly poison our water and the food we eat.
Phew. Thank Go..
I mean scientists, you da best. ;D
It’s ok, you were initially on the right track.. you can thank God for the bacteria!
3:30 Just copy Finland. We put a 0.20€ to 0.40€ collateral on every plastic bottles and 0.15€ collateral on aluminium cans so what that does is increase the price by that much of those products but you can take them to any store, where they have these recycling machines and you get your collateral back when you put the bottles and cans there. 99% of grocery stores have these machines, they get paid to keep them. In effect since everyone has a monetary incentive to return the bottles to these machines, around 99% of our bottles and cans are recycled. It's also good because if you are low on cash in Finland, you can always recycle bottles and cans that you find, so people actually look for trash to recycle. That's basically free labor for the municipality which otherwise would have to hire people to collect them. Put a collateral on them, put recycling machines in stores and voila. You solve recycling. It works like magic. One of the best systems i now of.
What most environmentalists forget, doing stuff for the good of all isn't going to convince everyone, we are not all altruistic. By providing an incentive, now that can convince people, rely on the self-serving aspect of ourselves to convince others.
@@Amatsaru29 Yes. But being altruistic doesn't hurt, literally the opposite.
Well done guys.
I think that is the key, development of plastics that can more easily be broken down by these enzymes. Maybe with some kind of starter kit built in (for lack of a better description) the plastic could begin to breakdown itself or set the stage
And then one day it escaped and 90% of everything we know melted away including most of our clothes lol
i wonder how that at some point we have to regularly wash our plastic products so that it won't just dissapear
imagine if in a hundred years the world is left as some desolate wasteland, the bacteria we thought would save us from plastic overconsumption has spiralled out of control, and it's now a giant green gooey super-organism growing and covering everything in sight (jk)
Yeahhh that's not how biology works
@@iCore7Gaming well a little mishap in a lab experimenting on synthesizing these enzymes with the help of bacteria and we could end up with a strain of bacteria that gives you a nasty respiratory infection that causes your sneezes and coughs to dissolve plastics...
You said it. I'm sure as a youngster I read a distopian sci-fi novel using this exact theme..
The likely thing is that plastic starts degrading as fast as paper equivalents and a lot of things plastic is good at now stop being doable
The actual enzyme isn’t alive, so it can’t self replicate.
You are obviously reading a script below the camera. Two tips I have are to move the camera further away (and possibly zoom in to compensate) and make your text smaller (not necessarily a smaller font, but smaller in width on your screen and scroll more to compensate).
As long as it doesn't turn plastics in micro-plastics I guess
What's wrong with them?
@@dzhiurgis You spent as much time commenting this question as it would have took you to google "What's wrong with micro-plastics"
@@dzhiurgis its just as bad as regular plastic if not worse
These enzymes rip PET molecules apart into their base chemicals, which can be used to make brand new PET.
@@CreativeBuilds thanks asshole. I've checked, here's what wiki says:
"According to a comprehensive review of scientific evidence published by the European Union's Scientific Advice Mechanism in 2019, "little is known with respect to the human health risks of nano- and microplastics, and what is known is surrounded by considerable uncertainty""
I remember when I was a child these bacteria eating oil and plastic where a thing. Almost 20 years ago I read about it and now I watch it in a new video.
teenage mutant super enzymes
You know, the funny thing is, as a boy scout about 10 years ago, I had the idea of having a bacteria that would "eat" the plastic waste. It's a shame that the idea I had thought at that time and was discredited as impossible became possible, but either way, I am at least a little happy. At the time I had even went as far as to speak to some people who I knew that worked with the government about my idea but they said we were "years" away from that sort of thing. Anyway, I hope that plastics become less of an issue now and that eventually, it can be commercial.
I’m just concentrating on his eyes going left to right reading the script 😅
You have it backwards. The people at the recycling plant found the enzyme on plastic. They then realized that a bacteria that normally produced an enzyme that breaks down the natural plastic found on plant leaves had mutated and can now produce an enzyme that can break down PET. They then tried to reverse engineer it to its original form to gain enough understanding to be able to improve on its ability to break down plastic making it faster. They failed to return it to its original non mutated form but instead improved it to a stronger form. Read the original article.
Scientists: “We found an enzyme that can eat through plastic, and can be used to remake said plastic! Therefore, we don’t need to keep making new plastic!”
Petroleum lobbyists: “...they know too much.”
I wonder why they say not to reuse disposable bottles like Arrowhead or Dasani because I usually fill them up throughout the entire day and then at night I crush them up and recycle them
You cheer now until you car starts leaking because some bacteria got on it.
Did you notice he says 20x faster etc. But never tells you, actually how long it takes to break down the higher grade plastic ! If it's still not commercially viable , that means it still take years to degrade!
You know its an issue when bacterias starts evolving
they always were , will do and were also made to .
What about the fungi decomposing (plastics)? One can make something like hat leather out of a certain fungus, or even bricks and certailny further materials, so that plastic muncher would surely deserve some attention due to this topic. Maybe combined with those mentionned bacteria
What would be the ecological consequences if you just dumped a bunch of this stuff onto floating plastic in the oceans?
I am assuming it would be worse than the benefits.
It would be too low concentration to really do anything. And there would need to be the right conditions for the enzyme to be created in order for the reaction to go on long enough to constantly get rid of the new plastic china and india keep dumping in the oceans/rivers.
Then you have to be careful about what the enzyme might do to the eco system itself.
I hope pranksters don't melt down an entire shopping row of bottles
The kardashians better sleep one eye open
And for our next trick, I will splash this petase on the kardashians to make them disappear
Heard about these kind of news 10 years ago and we still have plastic trash problem.
Fun Fact: The word "OK" looks like a sideways stick figure!
Now i will never be able to un-see it
oh my, it does
@@pluto9067 same me too as well as the Wilhelm Scream whenever i heard it i can't unseen or unheard it anymore :(
There was a sci-fi story decades ago - I don't think it is The Andromeda Strain - where scientists created a plastic-eating bacteria. It escapes the lab, of course. One scene I recall is where a man gets on an airplane to go to the other coast, and as he's writing with his pen he realizes it's beginning to melt in his hands. He starts freaking out and trying not to touch anything, but it's too late: other parts of the plane begin to melt.
So this video gives me a tad more worry than I had before.
Hello to the awesomee person who sees this, may you have a great day full of love and warmth! Love truly from a mini artist youtuber!👍 live your life to the fullest
Huh? Is this a repost? I feel like I have seen or heard of this already. Anyways great though!
Also I love this host but he should sit further from the camera... It's very obvious that he is reading. Makes the face shots not as nice...
The plastic eating bacteria were news a little while ago but the engineered enzyme (molecular scissors) is new !
Same story from NowThis News.
ruclips.net/video/484dv-BG2y8/видео.html
I've read about an enzyme that is 10000 times more efficient at breaking down PET than natural PETase (it could break down 90% of 200 grams of PET in 10 hours). It was reported on in April. Don't know for sure how these two compare though. But I guess the one from half a year ago is better?
10000 times more efficient: www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/huge-step-forward-mutant-enzyme-could-vastly-improve-recycling-plastic-bottles
this video: www.sciencefocus.com/news/super-enzyme-breaks-down-plastic-bottles-in-a-matter-of-days/
Break down. Where is all "mass" of plastic is going to go ? As I understand, breaking down means: Big chunk gets shredded in to small pieces. It at weighs the same.
Go stand at the end of the Los Angeles Basin "River" during the years first rain. Literal mountains of plastic bottles come shooting out.
Reminds me of Arjuna Earth Maiden. Such bacterias went out and started to disassemble plastics all around causing chemicals to end up in rivers. In the anime they at least had a supernatural being to help ;)
i like how plastic lasts longer than any other material we use for appliances, so the most logical thing to do was market them as "single use"
I came away from this video feeling strange... I felt err weird feelings. Positivity and hope.
I find it amazing how the Earth can find ways to fight back. It gives me hope; if we disappeared slowly but surely our planet would heal
nice to hear about this again
I saw this research few days ago and what I don't get is why something that can be 6x faster to eat plastic is not yet in use. If it takes 450 years now in nature, why not using what we have now as a start?
The more amazing thing about this is how bacteria were able to break down plastics. This just proves nature is also fighting back as a response against human actions. Of course, most likely human actions are still impacting mother nature more
We need to fund this as soon and as much as possible.
can you make a video of the transformation of plastic into oil again?
it's a good topic to talk
The only way I can think of as helping it along is breaking the crystalized structure by using solvents to turn it into a anmorphous goo that the enzymes can break down faster unfortunately the solvent can probaly distroy the structure of the enzyme
Could this also be the reason that scientists have just disclosed that the human body digests nano plastic from drinking bottled water? Could this same bacteria be present in bottled water and is slowly breaking down the bottle?
I don’t know you, but I kept my ps1 in the closet for like 10 years and some years ago when I was cleaning the closet I’ve found it and the plastic parts were totally eaten by some kind of bacteria or fungus leaving some disgusting residue behind, appears that the bacteria came from the dualshock because it where the part that most decomposed
His Humour sense is Great
As a much easier alternative to the dye problem for recycling, how about a law that makes all big companies use dye free transparent plastic bottles only?
For half a century now we have been arguing against plastic use. Yet here we are facing the same issue now even worse
Can you please give the link of DOI no.of journal article related to this information
This seems really promising. However, given the scale of plastic waste and the scale of at which this enzyme will be used, a before hand estimation what knock off effect large scale use could have.
Possibly the most important find for this century.
I knew an enzyme would take care of our plastic problem. I was thinking this for years
Good stuff. Let's hope they don't get carried away and produce something that gets out and eats plastic we don't want it to....
You could do a video about the way of transforming the plastic into oil by the pyrolisis method.
Great report that fills me with hope!
“Several materials that fall under the term” there’s little dozens of plastics. Like so many.
Phoenix Arizona here. I left my kids toy in the backyard for a couple of years then I went to retrieve it and the thing disintegrated in my hands maybe a plastic should be shipped to Arizona to decompose in a couple of years under our sun.
Technology is really awesome nowadays. Maybe soon someone could invent an inert material to build a liquid transport device, which is reusable many times. can be recycled, releases no endocrine disruptors into the liquid as PET does and you can look through it like a window to see how much liquid is left once opened. That would be so cool and sustainable. If i would be such a genius i would call it glass bottle, but hey that's just a dream.
transport device in the sense cars, bikes etc?
Speed up the entire process by embedding the bacterium and enzyme (if safe) into the plastic and print a "use by" date on the bottles. People won't want wet sticky shelves or refrigerators and they will buy less and use it more rapidly, and recycle it more rapidly. At some time in our future, we should require all products to be recycled by their manufacturers. Waste not want not.
When you managed to get into the rescue boat made of plastic!
It could end many of the advances we have. We rely on plastic for city water lines and siding and for medical uses. If plastic can be eaten then it's no longer safe from attack from bacteria and such.
This video a century from now: "this mutan Super-Enzyme can eat Graphene waste within days..."
-Plastic is already in wildlife, farm animals, and us. (even seeker made a vid of it) - how would this affect them/us?
-Not addicted to plastic but whatever you buy is buried in giant plastic packaging. That should be regulated.
Greta: How dare you! If you will solve waste problem, I will lose my job.
Scientists : *creates enzyme that eat plastic within days*
Kardashians : 👁👄👁
Phew I can now watch his videos. Nice adjustments on the mic noise gate.
Couldn't this lead to our plastic products that aren't waste being eaten as well?
There are many other plastics in use besides PET. And it depends on whether the bacteria or the enzyme alone will be used for that purpose. Releasing GMO bacteria is not an easy process. Using the enzyme alone will definitely avoid your concern.
Problem? Where i live in Ohio, even though you recycle, sort and put it into the recycling bin, they no longer recycle because it cost too much over putting it into a landfill. It's going to take legislation to force states to actually "recycle" the waste stream. It doesn't even have to be this involved. Plastic bricks and pavers, sidewalk slabs can all be made by melting and adding sand then extrusion into molds. Low texh solutions that would create jobs and a viable product for use.
Currently we are f'd and will be until we stop throwing the recyclables into a hole, like our heads.
Amazing! I wonder what the byproduct made from the enzyme is, if any. Bonus points if it could also trap some carbon dioxide too!
The byproduct was mentioned in the video
Byproduct is CO2, but also monomers of PET, terephthalate and ethylene glycol.