MaryMary
Quite Contrary
- Joined
- May 17, 2016
- Messages
- 2,241
- Reaction score
- 3,251
- Location
- Southwestern Ohio
- Hardiness Zone
- 6
- Country
A scientist and amateur beekeeper removed an infestation of wax worms from her beehive, and collected them in a plastic bag. When she returned an hour later, the worms had eaten holes in the bag! Wax worms are a parasite that eat the wax in beehives. It turns out, the same enzymes that enable them to eat wax, also enable them to eat polyethylene bags.
So now, they are trying to isolate the enzyme responsible! ![Cool :cool: :cool:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Ew... grub paste...![Sick :sick: :sick:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Edited to add - @Becky, @Ian, @zigs - if this belongs in the Chat forum instead, sorry!!![Oops! :oops: :oops:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
![Thumbs Up (y) (y)](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/thumbsup.png)
When the team exposed about 100 wax worms to a plastic shopping bag, holes started to appear after 40 minutes, with a reduction of 92mg after 12 hours. To compare: plastic-eating bacteria biodegraded plastic at a rate of 0.13mg a day, and it takes 100 to 400 years to degrade polyethylene in landfill. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-26/common-catepillar-can-eat-plastic-bags-at-high-speeds/8472368
The grubs appear to breakdown polyethylene with the same enzymes they use for eating beeswax. To confirm that the worms were not simply chewing the plastic into smaller pieces, the scientists mashed some of them up and smeared the grub paste on plastic bags. Again, according to the study in Current Biology, holes appeared. https://www.theguardian.com/science...ld-help-wage-war-on-waste-galleria-mellonella
Ew... grub paste...
Edited to add - @Becky, @Ian, @zigs - if this belongs in the Chat forum instead, sorry!!