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flourishingvoid t1_iutcayh wrote

Sounds a bit too "futuristic"

We had a discussion ( in my Biophysicist group of 3 ) about specialized bacteria bred to consume plastic with non-toxic metabolic residues, and in just 15 minutes we isolated dozen or so serious issues with the theory.

I will give you just one.

What may happen if lab-bred bacteria follow the trend of consumption-based mutations and became create variants targeting not only waste but also more "energy-dense matter", and now we created species that can consume everything.

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Death_or_Pizza t1_iutffhc wrote

What do you mean with energy dense? I mean there are lots of energy dense polymers which bacterias can consume? This already exists?

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flourishingvoid t1_iutg95s wrote

By more energy dense I meant organic matter ( is it dead or not) with pretty clear indication.

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FTRFNK t1_iuu9ara wrote

Not really futuristic, surprising to say from a physicist to think literally manipulating living organisms to do a specific task is easier than making an inorganic small thing from minerals and then taking them out with a magnet.

Seems pretty simple to me. People have these weird conceptions about anything with a "nano" in front of it, particularly anything "nanoparticle".

Nanoparticle is literally just very very small, well, particle. This is quite literally just a very small iron oxide particle with a charged coating. What's futuristic about thar? There are iron molecules and oxygen molecules all around us. What's futuristic about using a giant magnet? If people cared about microplastics back in the day, we could have done this like 30 years ago.

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flourishingvoid t1_iuurttv wrote

Nanoparticles that 'accumulate' or stick to specific substances aren't the same as nanomachines ( I was referring to ), they are still nanoparticles but much more complex in design, and less volatile when it comes to degradation from different chemicals and other environmental factors.

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WastelandPuppy t1_iuvizo5 wrote

These already exist and trillions of them are trying to eat you all the time.

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