Science & Technology

The Brilliance of Bacteria (and How They Combat Waste) | Patricia Aymà Maldonado | TED

Bacteria are the most incredible creatures on Earth, says biotechnologist and TED Fellow Patricia Aymà Maldonado. She presents a groundbreaking technology that “trains” bacteria to transform organic waste into biodegradable plastic that behaves like the real thing. Learn how this creative, sustainable approach could revolutionize the plastics industry. (Recorded at TED Fellows Films 2025 on…

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Bacteria are the most incredible creatures on Earth, says biotechnologist and TED Fellow Patricia Aymà Maldonado. She presents a groundbreaking technology that “trains” bacteria to transform organic waste into biodegradable plastic that behaves like the real thing. Learn how this creative, sustainable approach could revolutionize the plastics industry. (Recorded at TED Fellows Films 2025 on April 7, 2025)

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15 Comments

  1. @samikbloxy

    January 16, 2026 at 11:04 am

    First comments!

  2. @chisom_inspires

    January 16, 2026 at 11:06 am

    Literally watching all videos

  3. @alesmarting

    January 16, 2026 at 11:31 am

    less talk and more action

  4. @QuickClarity-TV

    January 16, 2026 at 12:03 pm

    very inspiring actually i love it

  5. @PlasticBank

    January 16, 2026 at 12:12 pm

    It’s amazing how the smallest life forms might help clean up the biggest mess humans made!

    • @DerhanaSitymunawaroah

      January 16, 2026 at 9:17 pm

      It’s nice to heard😊

  6. @AcselMitchell

    January 16, 2026 at 12:27 pm

    bacteria lovato!

  7. @ExistentialWolf

    January 16, 2026 at 5:21 pm

    Plastic is a term borrowed from material properties, with elastic being the contrast, for example. The complexity of reusing “plastics” is that there are many forms. I could write you a recipe to liquify any combination, but you need to sort that out 😀 Yes, there is a _method_ to do them all at once, but it’s further from your direction. The bugs are a fun one though … you never quite know if you’re cultivating correctly do you??

  8. @xXah

    January 16, 2026 at 6:08 pm

    laggy video 🙁

  9. @thepeopleslight

    January 16, 2026 at 10:40 pm

    Nature already had the solution. We just weren’t listening

  10. @changeorbeextinct

    January 16, 2026 at 10:53 pm

    Ok, love your bacteria folks

  11. @0055-g3i

    January 17, 2026 at 5:22 am

    Thanks the microorganism and thanks for your contribution

  12. @jurjenbos228

    January 18, 2026 at 11:43 am

    “Plastic is not the problem, it is how we produce it, use it and dispose of it.”

  13. @dhruboshahriar-sv7pr

    January 19, 2026 at 2:18 am

    Mind blowing 🤯

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