Federica Bertocchini

Born: Unknown

Country of Birth: Spain

Nationality: Spanish

Ethnicity: White

Universita de Pisa University Degree Molecular Biology; Open University London-DIBIT PhD Molecular Biology 2000

"“My beehives were plagued with wax worms, so I started cleaning them, putting the worms in a plastic bag,” said Dr Federica Bertocchini, at the Biological Research Centre in Madrid. “After a while, I noticed lots of holes and we found it wasn’t only chewing, it was [chemical breakdown], so that was the beginning of the story.” (theguardian.com); "Plastics stay in the environment for a long time. It eventually breaks down into small particles, therefore becoming the source of micro and nano plastic particles. These plastic particles have been found everywhere, from Antarctica to rain and tap water, which do not only cause obvious environmental issues but are a growing problem for human health," (reuters.com); "The big-picture goal is to be able to apply these enzymes to the plastic waste," says Bertocchini. "I really want this discovery and technology to be developed and transformed into a solution that we could use globally." (bbc.com); “For plastic to degrade, oxygen must penetrate the polymer (the plastic molecule),” explained Bertocchini. “This is the first step in oxidation, which is usually a result of exposure to sunlight or high temperatures, and represents a bottleneck that slows down the degradation of plastics like polyethylene, one of the most resistant polymers. That is why, under normal environmental conditions, plastic takes months or even years to degrade. These enzymes that have been now discovered are the first and only known enzymes capable of degrading polyethylene plastic by oxidizing and breaking down the polymer very rapidly (after just a few hours of exposure) without requiring pre-treatment and work at room temperature.” (newatlas.com); "

— Federica Bertocchini

Field of Study: Molecular Biology

Institution/Corporation: Plasticentropy

Degrees & Memberships: None found

Awards: None found

Achievements: lab interests focus on insects, especially wax worms, as biological means to degrade sturdy fossil fuels-derived polymers, i.e. plastics; specialized in early embryonic development of vertebrates; her research revealed that the saliva of Galleria mellonella larvae (wax worms) is capable of oxidizing and depolymerizing polyethylene (PE) through the use of 2 enzymes ( Ceres and Demeter), one of the most produced and sturdy polyolefin-derived plastics & they do so at normal temperatures, in water and at neutral pH;