Wasn’t there some effort to guide that particular evolution? Or was it really just one of those,“holy shit look at this” discoveries?
Now my curiosity is piqued; I may have to look that up later today.
Comment on Worldbuilding
Yondoza@sh.itjust.works 4 days ago
Is chemical energy more readily available from plastics than from wood? You’d have to imagine it is if they’re that quick on the uptake.
forrgott@lemmy.sdf.org 4 days ago
fullsquare@awful.systems 4 days ago
with wood, the problem was with lignin which is tightly crosslinked, meaning that it’s insoluble and organism willing to eat it has to secrete some enzymes to break it down in smaller bits that can be absorbed
depending on plastic, this first step might be easier or even happening on its own. there are already bacteria that feed on nylon but nylon starting materials are easier to digest for them
xx3rawr@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
lignin balls