When I was younger, I picked up a copy of "Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters"[0] at a used book sale. While the book itself was rather shlocky, I always thought the

When I was younger, I picked up a copy of "Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters"[0] at a used book sale. While the book itself was rather shlocky, I always thought the premise was very compelling. From memory; a scientist created a breed of bacteria that could digest a special food-like plastic, which was accidentally released, but sporulated as their special food source could not be found in the environment. Decades later, a product company introduced "bio-degradable" plastic for greener packaging, which happened to be similar enough to their original food source that the bacteria were able to feed on it. Unfortunately for humanity, plastic itself was also much more widely distributed in the current year, and the bacteria was able to make the jump from eating this plastic to eating "any" plastic. (For added drama, this process also resulted in the release of explosive gases - methane, maybe?) Also perhaps related, I also picked up The Last Gasp[1] at the same book sale, another speculative sci-fi about global warming. It was very influential on my preteen mind. [0]: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/2368220.Mutant_59 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/2368220.Mutant_59 [1]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1685500.The_Last_Gasp https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1685500.The_Last_Gasp