# Two young scientists break down plastics with bacteria

Once it's created, plastic (almost) never dies. While in 12th grade Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao went in search of a new bacteria to biodegrade plastic -- specifically by breaking down phthalates, a harmful plasticizer. They found an answer surprisingly close to home.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2013
- Runtime: 9 min
- By: TED.com
- Genres: Education, Science
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/MirandaWang_2013)
- Licence or status: [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) (as the archive states it)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/MirandaWang_2013?play=1)