The future is bacterial.
We've noted the various capabilities of bacteria numerous times, and today Wired News gives us yet another example of the power of our unicellular siblings: a bacteria which can turn styrene, a toxic by-product of the polystyrene industry, and turn it into a useful biodegradable plastic. Not only is this a natural process for removing environmental toxins, it's also an example of turning "waste" into "feedstock" -- a critical step for truly sustainable industry.
Comments (3)
I believe (but I might be wrong) that bacteria are prokaryote and not eukaryote organisms...
Posted by Chris Laprun | September 9, 2004 2:38 PM
Posted on September 9, 2004 14:38
Ah, crud. Misread my "Correlated History of Earth" wall-chart.
Fixed in the text. Sorry about that.
Posted by Jamais Cascio | September 9, 2004 2:48 PM
Posted on September 9, 2004 14:48
No problem. Love the site: keep up the good work!
Posted by Chris Laprun | September 9, 2004 3:29 PM
Posted on September 9, 2004 15:29