Re: [DIYbio] Re: Uplifting Ants

Ants are interesting here because they carry N-times their body weight
so they function as excellent collectors. In contrast, engineering
something like kelp flies or fruit flies would imply insects directly
digest waste plastics which is less likely. Plastics can be recycled
with heat or cold plasma, both are high energy mechanisms. However
biology is nanotechnology which can bypass high energy expenditure.
Sure, a symbiotic relationship between ants instinctively collecting
plastic in their environment, and a fungus which digests the plastic
to then feed the ants is hypothetically possible.

There have been hundreds of kickstarter-style funded projects aimed at
eliminating environmental plastics, some claiming to reuse the
plastics for new products. These projects have raised tens of
thousands and beyond millions based on individual internet pledges
alone, not by industry or government grant. The project aimed at
collecting plastic with a net attached to a floating tube (a design
derided by many) raised over $2 million as a simple kickstarter, the
project was recently launched into the Pacific and was all over the
news (and v1.0 broke down). https://www.theoceancleanup.com

The microbead waters act was signed into federal law in 2015 and takes
full effect in 2019 and may include funding for waste reduction. The
California Safe Drinking Water Act was passed in 2018 and includes an
amount of funding to eliminate microplastics. The funding is out
there for those who can experiment or prototype new solutions. Pure
research projects as proposed in this thread never work immediately
out of the box but lead in better directions with technology over a
few decades.

The fact is that plastics are entering every level of the food chain
with likely horrible results.

https://rochmanlab.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/rohman-et-al-2015-sci-rep.pdf

A significant percentage of plastic waste collects at the shoreline
therefore a solution can be land-based as well as sea based.



On 1/27/19, A some body again <yuriyology@gmail.com> wrote:
> So basically you are supposed to engineer a fungus or bacteria that will
> entice the ant with chemotaxants akin to those leaves (or something other
> and more potent) to bring our trash to its colony. It seems like a bitter
> trade with all of the biotoxins that could evolve out of this sinister
> plot. Even with specific tunnels the leachate will find its way in the
> water table. All of a sudden you'd be facing a colony collapse while seeing
>
> an en environmental disaster with bioaccumulation of whatever and however
> plastics break down.
>
> *"Meanwhile other species such as small marine organisms have been recently
>
> shown to actively seek out microplastics to eat (for reasons
> unknown, possibly 'smell' or color), even if this results in their own
> starvation since eating plastics is harmful and non-nutritious. Therefore
> small organisms do actively forage for microplastics even at their own
> irrational expense of energy. The missing aspect is some biomechanism to
> degrade the micro-waste after collection."*
> Had you referenced what you meant I wouldn't have to look for a publication
>
> on the topic <http://sci-hub.tw/10.1007%2Fs00227-015-2619-7>. They don't
> actively seek-out/forage for microplastics as anything small from 0.2 to
> 1000 micrometers and buoyant (in other words, unspoiled by biofilm at 5 m)
> will do. The coral funnels in anything of that size that comes its way.
> They did raise the coral in controlled settings. What surprised me is that
> they didn't sequence its gut microbiome.
>
> The coral polyps can close off the microplastics but what use is it locked
> up in its underchambers?
>
> "... a working solution to even part of this problem is 'worth' trillions."
>
> Which again due to its worth no one is ready to pay or even put a price tag
>
> on it. Reach out to UN. Have them put a price. Make it an international
> challenge. See if anyone shows up for it. Keep the license to demand the
> award back if the BS artist claims it.
>
> In my view, the best you can do to plastics is find a way to bring it down
> to its monomer components or leave as much of it as you can for nature to
> evolve a solution, while not looking for recipes for new types of the
> polymers. Stick to utmost environmentally friendly ones.
>
> On Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 3:23:26 AM UTC-5, Jonathan Cline wrote:
>>
>> It might not be as sci fi as imagined. Some ants collect bioproducts
>> from their environment such as leaves, carry these back to their
>> habitat into specific areas of their tunnels, and live off the fungus
>> which grows on the biowaste. Meanwhile other species such as small
>> marine organisms have been recently shown to actively seek out
>> microplastics to eat (for reasons unknown, possibly 'smell' or color),
>> even if this results in their own starvation since eating plastics is
>> harmful and non-nutritious. Therefore small organisms do actively
>> forage for microplastics even at their own irrational expense of
>> energy. The missing aspect is some biomechanism to degrade the
>> micro-waste after collection.
>>
>> It's a far better idea than the original post by any measure.
>>
>> Impact of microplastics on the global economy has been estimated in
>> the trillions (over the next century) as a conservative number when
>> considering the collapse of species across food chains due to
>> environmental pollution. Therefore a working solution to even part of
>> this problem is 'worth' trillions.
>>
>> On 1/26/19, A some body again <yuriy...@gmail.com <javascript:>> wrote:
>> > I don't believe anyone volunteered a trillion dollars towards a
>> solution.
>> >
>> > You might as well create a black hole for an exclusively plastic and
>> other
>> > waste product diet.
>> >
>> > Or route out planned obsolescence.
>> >
>> > On Saturday, December 22, 2018 at 3:39:34 PM UTC-5, Jonathan Cline
>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Evolve ant colonies to collect and/or digest plastic pollution and you
>> >>
>> >> have a world-saving and trillion-dollar award winning project.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> ## Jonathan Cline
>> >> ## jcl...@ieee.org <javascript:>
>> >> ## Mobile: +1-805-617-0223
>> >> ########################
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Sunday, December 16, 2018 at 2:55:15 AM UTC-8, Ozymandias wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> I thought about the following experiment:
>> >>>
>> >>> 2 or more ant colonies
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>>
>> >>> Any input?
>> >>>
>> >>
>> --
>> ## Jonathan Cline
>> ## jcl...@ieee.org <javascript:>
>> ## Mobile: +1-805-617-0223
>> ########################
>>


--
## Jonathan Cline
## jcline@ieee.org
## Mobile: +1-805-617-0223
########################

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