Styrofoam-flavored worms will save us all from the plastic crisis

According to new research, “superworms” that crave polystyrene could be the key to mass recycling of plastics.

Australian scientists say the species can trap plastic debris thanks to bacterial enzymes in the intestines.

Dr Chris Linke and his team from the University of Queensland’s School of Chemistry, Molecular and Biological Sciences have spent three weeks feeding additional worms a variety of diets, including Styrofoam, bran and fasted diets.

They found that Zophoba smorio’s usual “superworm” can eat through Styrofoam.

Dr Risk said: “Superfoods fed a Styrofoam diet alone not only survived but also showed a slight weight gain.

“This suggests that the worms can obtain energy from polystyrene, perhaps with the help of the gut microbiota.

A team of researchers has found several coding enzymes that can break down polystyrene and styrene using a technique called metagenomics.

Dr. Risk states that the long-term goal of enzyme engineering is to break down plastic waste in processing plants through mechanical fragmentation followed by enzymatic biodegradation.

He states: “A superworm is like a mini processing plant that cuts through Styrofoam in the mouth and eats bacteria in the intestines.

“The breakdown products of this reaction can be used by other microorganisms to make high-value compounds such as bioplastics.”

The team hopes that “biorecycling” will make it easier to recycle plastic waste and reduce landfills.

Jiarui Sun, a co-author of the study, says their goal is to grow gut bacteria in the lab and further degrade polystyrene.

“Then you can look at how to improve this process until you need the entire processing plant,” said Dr. Sun, a doctoral student.

Dr. Linke said that there are many possibilities for the biodegradation of plastic waste.

“Our team is very excited to push the science forward in its implementation,” he added.

The findings were published in the journal Microbial Genomics.