Bioremediation is a set of methods that exploit the metabolic capabilities of microorganisms, plants, or their enzymes to transform, detoxify, or remove environmental contaminants from soil, water, sediments, or air. Approaches include intrinsic bioremediation, where indigenous microbes degrade pollutants without intervention, and engineered strategies such as biostimulation (addition of nutrients or electron acceptors) and bioaugmentation (introduction of selected strains or consortia). Target contaminants commonly include hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, pesticides, heavy metals (via transformation or immobilization), and emerging pollutants, with process design guided by site-specific geochemistry, microbial ecology, and kinetic constraints to achieve regulatory cleanup endpoints.
Researchers have identified more than 600,000 microbial proteins capable of breaking down natural and synthetic plastics, revealing a far broader biodegradation potential across microbes than previously known.
Cell & Microbiology
2 hours ago
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Microplastics and nanoplastics are tiny plastic particles that result from the breakdown of larger plastic products due to sunlight, waves, and other environmental conditions. In recent years, these particles have been increasingly ...
Environment
21 hours ago
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In a study published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Nagoya University researchers demonstrated that native soil bacteria, when treated with decoy molecules, can degrade non-native compounds, including persistent ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 9, 2026
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University of Tennessee Knoxville professor and Goodrich Chair of Excellence in Civil Engineering Frank Loeffler and his co-authors published new research on the environmental impacts of "forever chemicals" in Nature Microbiology. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 6, 2026
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Photosynthetic bacteria do not release oxygen during photosynthesis but can convert solar energy into chemical energy with remarkably high efficiency. They also utilize near-infrared light—wavelengths unused by plants—and ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 31, 2026
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Many aromatic compounds, such as phenols, cresols and styrenes, are toxic to organisms and harmful to the environment. They can accumulate as a result of industrial processes and harm ecosystems. Soil bacteria can help to ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 30, 2026
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A lactic acid bacterium isolated from kimchi may help promote the removal of nanoplastics from the body by binding to them in the intestine. Nanoplastics are ultrafine plastic particles measuring less than 1 micrometer that ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 21, 2026
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A study conducted by researchers at the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture at the University of São Paulo (CENA-USP) and published in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe identified residues of different classes ...
Ecology
Mar 20, 2026
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Plastic trash has reached the world's most remote locations, from the bottom of the Mariana Trench to the summit of Everest. Hundreds of plastic-eating microbes that could help us clean up have been discovered over the past ...
Evolution
Mar 18, 2026
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Biodegradable plastics could help alleviate the plastic waste crisis that is polluting the environment and harming our health. But how long plastics take to degrade and how environmental bacteria work together to break them ...
Environment
Mar 16, 2026
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