Nature · সাধারণ

When microbes degrade plastic, where does it go?

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CORRESPONDENCE
13 October 2026

By

Yitong Han
1. Qingdao University, Qingdao, China.
Xilin She
1. Qingdao University, Qingdao, China.
Lianzhen Li
1. Qingdao University, Qingdao, China.
Weishi Zhang
1. Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.

Anton Stepnov and colleagues rightly highlight concerns about using common laboratory tests to study plastic-eating microorganisms (see A. A. Stepnov et al. Nature 657, 611–620; 2026). However, extending their discussion to the fate of particles shed during whole-cell experiments raises a crucial question: when the mass of a sample decreases, has the plastic truly been removed?

Nature 658, 834 (2026)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-03246-1