Microbes can capture carbon and degrade plastic — why aren’t we using them more?

Microorganisms have shaped the Earth for about four billion years. At least one trillion microbial species maintains biosphere – for example, by producing oxygen or sequence carbon¹From mithane to methane to metals, microbes thrive in extreme environment and use diverse energy sources. And they can catalyze complex reactions under environment temperature and pressure with remarkable efficiency.

Many people have been recognized by many people to take advantage of these microbial abilities to significantly reduce the impact of human activities on the planet.²And bacteria or fungi are already being used to produce materials, fuels and fertilizers that reduce energy consumption and use the use of fossil-fuel feedstox as well as to clean waste water and contaminants³,

Despite their comprehensive capacity, however, microbe-based technologies are largely ignored in international schemes to deal with climate change or reduce the loss of biodiversity.⁴For example, discussion about the role of microbial technologies in achieving fossil-free options for current products and processes was minimal or absent in the United Nations parties (police) conferences in 2023 and 2024, and on biodiversity in 2022 and 2024 (see (see Nature 63617–18; 2024).

In order to take better advantage of microbiology in addressing climate change and other stability challenges, the International Union of Microbiology and the American Society for microbiology brought us (authors) together in December 2023-Microbiologist, public-health scientists and economists as a group of health, energy and water as a group of greenery, soil and water as a group of greenery, soil and water With In a series of meetings, we have evaluated whether some microbe-based technologies that are already on the market can contribute to permanent solutions that are scalable, moral and economically viable. We have identified cases in which the technical feasibility of an approach has already been displayed and in which solutions can become competitive with today’s fossil-based approaches in 5–15 years.

This work has assured us that microbi-based intervention makes great promises as technical solutions to address climate change and by reducing the pollution and global warming-caste diversity loss. Here, we explain why they can be so important⁵ And some highlights some issues that we feel that with microbiologists, climate scientists, ecology and public-health scientists, corporations, economists and policy makers, such solutions will need to be considered on a scale⁶,

Microbial possibilities

The use of genomics, bio -engineering tools and advance in artificial intelligence is increasing a lot Researchers’ capabilities to design proteinMicrobi or microbial community. Using these and other approaches, microbiologists can help deal with three major problems.

First, many products manufactured from fossil fuels (energy, other fuels and chemicals) can be produced by ‘feeding’ microbes with waste plastic, carbon dioxide, methane or organic matter such as sugarcane or wooden chips.

In many companies applying microbe-based solutions to address climate change, Sc butky, a carbon-optailing company in Illinois, Lanzitech, is working on producing a commercial-scale aviation from ethanol, when microbi sessions, when microbby, metamorphosis or sugarcane. Meanwhile, firm Natureworks In Plymouth, is producing polymers, fiber and bioplastic using microbial fermentation of feedstoxs such as Minnesota, Cassava, Sugarcane and Beat.

Second, germs can be used to clean pollution – from greenhouse gases, crude oil, plastic and pesticides to pharmaceuticals.

For example, a start-up firm called Carbios located in Clramont-Frand, France has developed a modified bacterial enzyme. Brokes and recycle polyethylene tereftlate (Pet), one of the most common single-utility plastic. another company – Oil spill Eater International Dallas, in Texas-uses germs to clean the oil spread, and large waste-management corporations in North America use a bacteria called methotroph to convert the methane produced from landfill (more powerful greenhouse gas than CO₂) In ethanol, biofuels, polymers, biodegradable plastic and industrial chemicals.

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Company Floating island international In Shepherd, Montana, even artificial floating islands on lakes and reservoirs, are polluted by run-offs of highly nutrients, so that methane-metabolizing microbes (which colonization under the islands) can remove methane arising from the lake sediment. In this case the goal is to convert inland lakes and reservoirs from pure methane sources to carbon sinks.

Finally, germs can be used to make food production less dependent on chemical fertilizers and therefore more durable.

The chemical process required to produce ammonia for fertilizer involves burning fossil fuels to achieve high temperatures and pressure (up to 500 ° C and 200 atmospheric pressure), which releases 450 megatts of CO₂ Each year in the atmosphere (1.5% of all COs₂ Emission)⁷In addition, additional chemical fertilizers that flow in rivers, lakes and oceans cause algal blooms, which increases the emission of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is more powerful than CO₂ Or methane.

Many bacteria and arcia can be used to produce nitrogen fertilizer with much less greenhouse-gas emissions compared to synthetic fertilizers. This is because germs cure nitrogen at room temperature and are known as nitrogen using enzymes at sea level atmospheric pressure that converts atmospheric nitrogen)₂) In ammonia (NH)₃,

Many companies are now selling biofrtilizers, which are bacterial formulations called rizobia or other microbes that can increase the availability of nutrients to plants (see ‘see’ towards bioconi ‘and go.nature.com/3fs2xqfIncreasing number of microbial biopistides is also providing food producers a way to control crop pests without damaging human or animal health or releasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere⁸,

Keep it safe

As more microbe-based solutions enter the market-the bioengin or naturally existing-Boysafti ideas will become rapidly important.

Many solutions, such as using bacteria to degrade crude oil or plastic, are shown effective and safe in a laboratory settings.⁹Nevertheless, increasing global emissions or global biodiversity losses can cause unexpected complications by increasing your use for the levels required.

Some safety measures – designing bacteria that can remain in an ecosystem for only a short time or which can only be present in specific environmental conditions – are already developed and implemented.⁴And, in a similar manner as phased clinical trials in biomedical research, laboratory experiments can be followed by tests contained in the external environment, which can later be large -scale field tests. Investigators will also need to monitor the system over time, which may include sequencing of environmental DNA from waste water and other approaches that are used in infectious-disease monitoring.

Ultimately, scientific communities, governments and corporations will need to cooperate with evidence-based policies for effective deployment, control and monitoring of large-scale microbe-based solutions and attach to clear and transparent communication about huge opportunities and potential risks.

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