I’ve wondered how far out we are from microorganisms and insects adapting to remove one of the biggest utilities of plastics, their durability. Crazy to think it’s taking less than a century for these organisms to begin to adapt.
Might have been even faster if world insect populations weren’t crashing.
You could also draw a conclusion that plastic eating insects are evolving faster because of less competition and abundant plastic. It’s amazing how life can be both fragile and resilient at the same time
I expected to see microbes here first. Insects have a slower reproduction cycle, so evolution should take longer.
There are adapted ground bacteria in tar pits, eating tar.