Researchers have discovered that the saliva of wax worms, the caterpillar larvae of the wax moths that feeds on beeswax in beehives, can quickly break down polyethylene, a material predominantly used ...

Two enzymes found in wax worm saliva are capable of degrading the durable material polyethylene. Polyethylene is used in a range of diverse products worldwide. Researchers said the two enzymes are the ...

Two substances in the saliva of wax worms — moth larvae that eat wax made by bees to build honeycombs — readily break down a common type of plastic, researchers said on Tuesday, in a potential advance ...

Wax worms can eat through plastic bags. No one's quite sure how yet, but the finding is an exciting one that comes through unconventional means. Federica Bertocchini is a biologist at Spain's ...

Even the smallest among us can be big heroes. Take the lowly wax worm, for instance. The larva of the greater wax moth is considered a huge pest in Europe, because it acts as a parasite in bee ...

Plastic pollution may have met its unlikely match: the saliva of wax worms. In a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, researchers discovered that enzymes in the saliva of wax ...

Each year, the world produces 300 million tons of plastic, much of which resists degradation and ends up polluting every corner of the globe. But a team of European scientists may have found a unique ...

Generally speaking, plastic is incredibly resistant to breaking down. That's certainly true of the trillion polyethylene plastic bags that people use each and every year. But researchers may be on ...

Biologist Federica Bertocchini discovered that wax worms can perforate plastic. And break it down - thanks to special enzymes. In a world drowning in plastic waste, a surprising hero could be emerging ...