Polystyrene is perhaps the most notorious of all the polymers that together we call "plastics." They are used in packing peanuts and styrofoam containers, in bottles and disposal cutlery and jewel cases. In other words, polystyrene is absolutely everywhere — and, like so many other plastic products, lasts for millennia. Its inability to break down in the environment is a big reason why humans have lost control of plastic pollution and are searching for technology that might solve the problem.
Enter a species of darkling beetle larvae known as Zophobas morio. While the so-called "superworms" resemble elongated and slippery orange caterpillars, and are frequently used as food for pet reptiles, a new study in the scientific journal Microbial Genomics reveals that Zophobas morio has a bacterial enzyme in its gut that could put humans on the right track. In particular, the scientists discovered that "genera including Pseudomonas, Rhodococcus and Corynebacterium that possess genes associated with polystyrene degradation."
