Earthly Alchemy

In 2011 Yale University molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry students and their professor traveled to the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador and discovered a fungus that eats only plastic. It is the first microbe to survive exclusively on polyurethane, and, most notably,  it can do so in oxygen-free environments like landfills. Much of the world's plastic trash winds up buried in landfills, where it can remain, largely unaltered, for generations, so the idea that a fungus can devour plastic is exhilarating.  It is a long way, however, from the lab to functional application. At this point in time,  this research can be seen only an interesting idea.  The Yale people hope other researchers will expand on their inquiry. Inspired by this fungus, the spore and mycelium network imagery invite viewers to be curious about the potential ways to eliminate existing plastic.

Below are selected works from this series. To see more, please contact the artist.