Virginia Linn , AN EXPERIMENT ON THE BREAKDOWN OF PLASTIC, DESIGNED BY THREE CCAC STUDENTS, IS BEING TESTED ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. | PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK A — breaks down a common plastic, polyester-polyurethane. “We know that this fungus can degrade polyurethane,” Burns said in an interview with WESA-FM . “We’re wondering how microgravity on the International Space Station would affect its growth and how quickly it degrades. So the hope is that it’s possible that it would degrade polyurethane quicker.” She’s now a sophomore studying molecular biology at the University of Pittsburgh. FROM L TO R: PATRICIA DONEHUE (CCAC FACULTY MENTOR), ANNE DUFFY (CCAC FACULTY MENTOR), STUDENTS FAITH DUNN, MAYA BURNS AND CONNOR MCDONAGH AND CCAC PRESIDENT QUINTON BULLOCK. | PHOTO COURTESY CCAC Scientists have been looking for ways to break down plastic, the bulk of which ends up in landfills and pollutes land, water and air. They have found that several organisms are able to break down plastic polyurethane into smaller, recyclable chemical compounds. While their experiment is being conducted on the space station, Burns, Dunn and McDonagh will be running a control experiment here. When the experiment returns to earth, they’ll compare the results to see if there is any difference in how quickly the fungus broke down the plastic. Categories