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plastic-eating caterpillars can degrade polyethylene

Accepted submission by takyon at 2017-04-24 19:33:24
Science

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39694553 [bbc.com]

Researchers at Cambridge University have discovered that the larvae of the moth, which eats wax in bee hives, can also degrade plastic.

Experiments show the insect can break down the chemical bonds of plastic in a similar way to digesting beeswax.

[...] caterpillars of the moth (Galleria mellonella) can make holes in a plastic bag in under an hour.

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(17)30231-2 [cell.com]


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