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[ad_1] WASHINGTON: A marine bacterium has been genetically modified by researchers to break down plastic in saline water. The synthetic creature is capable of degrading polyethene terephthalate (PET), a plastic used in everything from water bottles to clothing that contributes considerably to microplastic pollution in the oceans. "This is exciting because we need to address plastic pollution in marine environments ," said Nathan Crook, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at North Carolina State University and the paper's corresponding author. "One option is to pull the plastic out of the water and put it in a landfill, but that poses challenges of its own. It would be better if we could break these plastics down into products that can be reused. For that to work, you need an inexpensive way to break the plastic down. Our work here is a big step in that direction." To address this challenge, the researchers worked with two spe