When microbes degrade plastic, where does it go?

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

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