Waxworms To The Rescue!!

To us, let's just say munching and crunching on a delicious honeycomb may not sound the same to devouring a plastic bag, but for these worms, both are equally nutritious. Yum? Due to some recent technology LeMoine and his Brandon University team has focused on these fascinating creatures. Waxworms use their microorganisms in its gut (its microbiome), and break down plastic. They found that one particular species of bacteria could survive on NOTHING but plastic- for an entire year!! Who thought there was no way to rid plastic? Back to the honeycomb. The structure of honeycomb wax contains long chains of carbon and hydrogen, which are molecules called hydrocarbons. these hydrocarbon chains are made up of the same material as fossil fuel-derived plastics, and used so carelessly and often by humans. Unfortunately, a group of 60 famished waxworms can only chew through a matchbook-sized square of plastic bag in under a week. Clearly, we would need a whole lot of caterpillars to solve plastic problems. But, you never know, it could still work! Waxworms, to the rescue!!