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Tiny gut “sponge” bacteria found to flush out toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”
(www.sciencedaily.com)
this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
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Awesome, nature finds a way. Wonder how common this removal is with other things, also, engineering one for nanoplastic removal would be a huge win!
There has been found a fungus that evolved to consume microplastics already! https://lamycosphere.com/en-int/blogs/the-futur-is-fungi/plastikfressende-pilze-sind-eine-naturliche-losung-fur-die-umweltverschmutzungskrise?srsltid=AfmBOopXsq1C4V3QswKk2bVz1-Y9NNbbDa5VhLclmQyVl-LkNqrijkvl
And a black one that consumes radiation! They’re working on a way to use that as a self healing radiation shielding in space! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus
Just keep in mind how close our flesh is to plastic, chemically speaking. Anything that is really good at breaking down hydrocarbons may find us pretty tasty too.
We are comprised of tangled chains of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, with a sprinkle of various others. Plastic is slightly more complex chains, developed from the dead and entombed carcasses of ancient flora and fauna. That entombment process adjusts, but doesn't fundamentally alter the chemistry of those chains.