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

Rino Rappuoli; Nguyen K. Nguyen; David E. Bloom; Charles Brooke; Rachel M. Burckhardt; Alan D. Dangour; Dilfuza Egamberdieva; Gigi K. Gronvall; Trevor D. Lawley; Jay T. Lennon; Ryan Morhard; Aindrila Mukhopadhyay; Raquel Peixoto; Pamela A. Silver; Lisa Y. Stein

doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00875-w

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

Rino Rappuoli
, Nguyen K. Nguyen
, David E. Bloom
, Charles Brooke
, Rachel M. Burckhardt
, Alan D. Dangour
, Dilfuza Egamberdieva
, Gigi K. Gronvall
, Trevor D. Lawley
, Jay T. Lennon
, Ryan Morhard
, Aindrila Mukhopadhyay
, Raquel Peixoto
, Pamela A. Silver
, Lisa Y. Stein

Bloomberg School of Public Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review

Abstract

Interventions involving bacteria or fungi could help to sequester greenhouse gases, create more sustainable products and clean up pollution — in ways that are economically viable and safe.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	864-866
Number of pages	3
Journal	Nature
Volume	639
Issue number	8056
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00875-w
State	Published - Mar 27 2025

Keywords

Biodiversity
Chemistry
Climate change
Microbiology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

Access to Document

10.1038/d41586-025-00875-w

Cite this

Rappuoli, R., Nguyen, N. K., Bloom, D. E., Brooke, C., Burckhardt, R. M., Dangour, A. D., Egamberdieva, D., Gronvall, G. K., Lawley, T. D., Lennon, J. T., Morhard, R., Mukhopadhyay, A., Peixoto, R., Silver, P. A., & Stein, L. Y. (2025). Microbes can capture carbon and degrade plastic — why aren’t we using them more? Nature, 639(8056), 864-866. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00875-w

Rappuoli, R, Nguyen, NK, Bloom, DE, Brooke, C, Burckhardt, RM, Dangour, AD, Egamberdieva, D, Gronvall, GK, Lawley, TD, Lennon, JT, Morhard, R, Mukhopadhyay, A, Peixoto, R, Silver, PA & Stein, LY 2025, 'Microbes can capture carbon and degrade plastic — why aren’t we using them more?', Nature, vol. 639, no. 8056, pp. 864-866. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00875-w

@article{04eaf085899541ddb20d4896e355fcbc,

title = "Microbes can capture carbon and degrade plastic {\textemdash} why aren{\textquoteright}t we using them more?",

abstract = "Interventions involving bacteria or fungi could help to sequester greenhouse gases, create more sustainable products and clean up pollution {\textemdash} in ways that are economically viable and safe.",

keywords = "Biodiversity, Chemistry, Climate change, Microbiology",

author = "Rino Rappuoli and Nguyen, \{Nguyen K.\} and Bloom, \{David E.\} and Charles Brooke and Burckhardt, \{Rachel M.\} and Dangour, \{Alan D.\} and Dilfuza Egamberdieva and Gronvall, \{Gigi K.\} and Lawley, \{Trevor D.\} and Lennon, \{Jay T.\} and Ryan Morhard and Aindrila Mukhopadhyay and Raquel Peixoto and Silver, \{Pamela A.\} and Stein, \{Lisa Y.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Springer Nature Limited 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = mar,

day = "27",

doi = "10.1038/d41586-025-00875-w",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "639",

pages = "864--866",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",