Scientists in South Korea have identified an ally in the fight against plastic pollution inside the human body. Researchers report that the kimchi-derived lactic acid bacterium — Leuconostoc mesenteroides CBA3656 — can latch onto nanoplastics in the gut, helping carry them out of the body before they spread further. 

Nanoplastics, which measure less than 1 micrometre (one-thousandth of a millimetre, about 0.00004 inches), are formed as larger plastics break down in the environment. They are widely detected in food and drinking water, and because they are so small, may pass through the intestinal lining and accumulate in organs.