Power Planets Game: Powering the Future. Howstuffworks "Video Channel". Crystal cave. Globe Genie - Joe McMichael. Boy discovers microbe that eats plastic. It's not your average science fair when the 16-year-old winner manages to solve a global waste crisis.
But such was the case at last May's Canada-Wide Science Fair in Ottawa, Ontario, where Daniel Burd, a high school student at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, presented his research on microorganisms that can rapidly biodegrade plastic. Daniel had a thought it seems even the most esteemed PhDs hadn't considered. Plastic, one of the most indestructible of manufactured materials, does in fact eventually decompose. It takes 1,000 years but decompose it does, which means there must be microorganisms out there to do the decomposing.
Editor's note: There are two high school students who have discovered plastic-consuming microorganisms. The first was Daniel Burd. Could those microorganisms be bred to do the job faster? The preliminary results were encouraging, so he kept at it, selecting out the most effective strains and interbreeding them.