Antarctic fuel eating microbes may help in plastic clean-up
A team of Argentine scientists is using microorganisms native to Antarctica to clean up pollution from fuels and potentially plastics in the pristine expanses of the white continent. The tiny microbes munch through the waste, creating a naturally occurring cleaning system for pollution caused by diesel that is used as a source of electricity and heat for research bases in the frozen Antarctic. The continent is protected by a 1961 Madrid Protocol that stipulates it must be kept in a pristine state.
The research on how the microbes could help with plastic waste could have potential for wider environmental issues.