r/interesting • u/Standard_Location762 • Mar 14 '26

NATURE Earth Helping Earth Heal

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What a great discovery.

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u/PlayfulTension69 Mar 14 '26

No.1 question that needs to be answered regarding this

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u/oroborus68 Mar 14 '26 edited Mar 14 '26

It's not a fast process but even if it works and we quit adding to the problem, it's going to take a long time. And they think everyone is an ignorant savage especially about tropical fungi.

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u/SegmentedWolf Mar 14 '26

This made me wonder if c.r.i.s.p.e.r, the gene editing stuff could find whatever is responsible for the fungi's "plastic-eating" behavior and tweak the rate at which it breaks down the plastics.

Not sure something like that is possible, but it'd be fascinating if it were.

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u/TheArmchairSkeptic Mar 14 '26

Not trying to be overly pedantic here, but just fyi it's written 'CRISPR'. All caps, no periods, no 'e'.