Selectively Breeding Zophobas Morios for Polystyrene Degradation

Overview

Over the past decade, scientists have discovered species of plastic-eating worms, a key to unlocking how to degrade recalcitrant plastic. Plastic-eating worms have the ability to degrade plastic back to their monomers, a revolution to the recycling processes since plastic can only be recycled 2-3 times before their polymer bonds grow too weak. Therefore, selectively breeding worms to increase their plastic consumption can provide a viable yet practical solution to abating landfill plastic waste. In this study, to test the hypothesis that Zophobos Morio worms can increase their plastic consumption through selective breeding, three control groups from the control F3 generation, and three experimental groups from the treatment (1:1 ratio of plastic + bran diet whilst only selecting 10% heaviest to breed) F3 generation were compared for their plastic consumption over a 32- day period. Control variables were kept constant with a humidifier and heater that was turned on 24/7 for the course of 15 months with no power outages (26 ± 1 °Cand 50 ± 10% relative humidity.) F3 experimental groups showed on average a 1.8 milligrams of increase in plastic consumption per worm, and then statistical analyses were performed. The results were proved extremely statistically significant with the largest p-value out of the three being 2.6668912E-27. Because all three p-values were approximately zero and consistently relative to each other, the results showed convincing evidence that the treatment of a plastic diet can allow these worms to adapt and increase the efficiency of their plastic consumption.

Competition history

• JSHS 2023 Category not listed

Resources

• National JSHS abstract book ↗

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