Helpful microbes: For cleaning up oil spills and helping crops grow
A Brazilian microbiologist won a major prize for transforming agriculture while reducing the use of synthetic fertilizers
Mariangela Hungria isolated a bacteria called rhizobia, which helps soybean roots capture nitrogen and use it as food.
She also discovered that the Azospirillum microbe releases hormones that help crops such as corn, wheat, and pasture grasses grow and obtain nutrients more easily. Dr. Hungria earned this year鈥檚 $500,000 World Food Prize, which has recognized advances in agriculture and nutrition since 1987.
Why We Wrote This
In our progress roundup, the impact of scientific research ranges from Brazil鈥檚 emergence as an agricultural superpower, to the new discovery of how a microbe makes its own detergent.
Today in Brazil, the thorough local testing of both microbial products gives the country鈥檚 farmers the knowledge required to use them with confidence.
Dr. Hungria has spent her career working for the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corp., a state-owned company with a storied history. Its scientists are credited with Brazil鈥檚 meteoric rise to global agricultural superpower and with growing crops in the country鈥檚 previously unproductive interior grasslands.
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Orange County, California, is a leader in eliminating PFAS from its drinking water
The region鈥檚 seventh treatment facility was dedicated in May.
These human-made 鈥渇orever chemicals,鈥� known for their persistence in the environment, have been used in consumer products since the 1940s and found to be harmful to humans, animals, and plants. (PFAS is an abbreviation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.) While the Environmental Protection Agency issued PFAS guidelines last year, the county started to address them in 2019.
At a water treatment plant in Yorba Linda, the largest of its kind in the U.S., well water passes through vats with positively charged resin beads, which, like a magnet, attract negatively charged PFAS compounds, removing them from the water. The plant purifies water for some 80,000 people, while the county鈥檚 groundwater basin supplies up to 85% of the water to a population of 2.5 million. The plant has required a 10% increase in annual costs for customers, and the county hopes to transfer the responsibility for cleanup using lawsuits against polluters.
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Germany鈥檚 scientists discover how an oil-eating marine microbe makes its own detergent
Their findings could contribute to the development of new bacterial strains to combat oil spills more effectively.
Since oil and water don鈥檛 mix, the microorganism produces its own biosurfactant, an 鈥渙rganic dishwashing liquid鈥� that it uses to attach itself to oil droplets. The bacterium Alcanivorax borkumensis feeds on both naturally occurring hydrocarbon chains in the ocean and spilled petroleum.
Jiaxin Cui, a doctoral student at the University of Bonn鈥檚 Institute of Molecular Physiology and Biotechnology of Plants, helped identify the three genes responsible for telling the bacterium how to make the biosurfactant. 鈥淲e successfully transferred the genes involved to a different bacterium, which then produced the detergent as well,鈥� explained Ms. Cui.
Sources: Science Daily,
Asset ownership is on the rise across the African continent
Between 2016 and 2023, more people in the 32 countries surveyed by Afrobarometer, a nonpartisan pollster and researcher, reported owning material goods such as computers and radios.
Respondents are also now more likely to own televisions, cars or motorcycles, and cellphones. Cellphone ownership and access to a bank account each increased by 4 percentage points in that period, expanding access to information and making it easier to save money.
At the household level, 94% of adults can now access a cellphone, 77% can listen to the radio, and 54% can use a bank account. Nearly half have access to a car. By 2063, the African Union member states seek to reach a 鈥渉igh standard of living, quality of life and well-being for all.鈥�
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A women-staffed hotel is creating jobs in a country with low female workforce participation
In Sri Lanka, women in the tourism industry hold 10% of jobs, compared with 54% globally. But only 14% of those women reach senior positions, according to the agency UN Tourism.
Amba Yaalu, a resort in central Sri Lanka, employs a staff of 84 women who run all of its operations. Chandra Wickramasinghe, the founder, wanted to provide opportunities for women in Sri Lanka, where their employment is less than half that of men鈥檚. Migrant workers worldwide can face exploitation, and hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans reside in the Gulf region to work.
In Tanzania, the women-run Dunia Camp has led tourists through the Serengeti for a decade. Camp manager Petronila Mosha says their success has 鈥減aved the way for many women鈥� in the safari operator鈥檚 chain, increasing the presence of women throughout the company.
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