Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence, a Spain-based biotech company, aims to tackle plastic pollution head-on.
Darwin's researchers have developed a technology that utilizes microorganisms to biodegrade microplastics, per NutraIngredients. The research recently received a significant funding boost from Repsol, a Spanish energy company, making commercialization a real possibility.
After thoroughly testing the tech in labs, the next step is to study it under real-world conditions. Ideally, the microorganisms would degrade plastics found in both water and soil by using them as a carbon source.
Plastic pollution has made microplastics inescapable. They've been studied most thoroughly in oceans and marine life, but recent research has discovered them in the human body, with far-reaching health consequences.
While experts admit the info is limited, the studies that have been conducted thus far don't bode well. According to Harvard Medicine, microplastics have been found to cause cell death, reproductive issues, liver problems, and more.
And they're everywhere. Scientists have discovered them in paint, waterways, and soil. This affects animals too; one study found that microplastics could disrupt a pig's digestion. This could have ripple effects across the food chain, further damaging biodiversity.
As Darwin CEO Manuel Porcar told NutraIngredients, "Plastic is produced, ends up in rivers, oceans, soils, and then in plants … and finally in humans."
In response to this mounting issue, some organizations are developing tech to filter microplastics out of the human body. However, Darwin's tech, which Porcar predicts will be ready for commercialization within the next few years, will solve this problem at the root.
"To disrupt this process," he continued, "action is needed at some point—the most logical place to intervene is agricultural soil."
This will reduce overall microplastics exposure across the board, rather than in select individuals. Porcar told NutraIngredients that he expects other biotech companies to eventually adopt the same approach.
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"The technology is not yet patented," he explained, "but it's under industrial secret, and we've spent years selecting microbial consortia that biodegrade plastic efficiently."
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