Microorganisms developed biodegradable plastics long before humans began making them. Many bacteria and archaea naturally produce compounds known as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), which they store inside their cells as reserves of carbon and energy.
Scientists had long assumed that only microorganisms could break down these natural plastics. New research from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, now challenges that idea. In a stu...

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