Bee 'film' decomposes in ordinary soil: chemists find a clue to replacing polyethylene
Scientists at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the University of Tennessee described in PNAS the natural polyester of the cellophane bee, which the insect uses to line its underground nest. The material is almost indistinguishable from polyethylene, but after four months in laboratory soil its content fell from 73 to 40%. Chemists are now studying which molecular structure enables such decomposition.
Otabek Yusupov