There isn’t much good to talk about these days so this little article about oil-eating bacteria is at least a dim light in the darkness. I have my concerns about human manipulation of the genome — of anything. The law of unintended consequences seems especially likely to whack us ( make sure the tweaking doesn’t give these bacteria a taste for oils on the skin for example!) But enhancing natural processes to remediate disaster seems a good way to go. I have heard speculation about similar ideas to deal with nuclear waste.
Scientists in Europe have sequenced the genome for an oil-eating bacterium, a move that could pave the way for faster and more efficient ways to clean up oil spills.