When it comes to public health, infection and pollution often pose similar problems. They can move fast, resist treatment, and cost a lot of money to find a cure. But thanks to some inventive bioscience, there’s a new way to turn bacteria to our advantage in the fight against environmental degradation.

There are two heroes to this ecological story: University of Washington microbiologist Sharon Doty and a strain of Enterobacter by the name of PDN3. Years ago, Doty and her team wanted to see if they could genetically engineer more robust results from the poplar tree, which is sometimes used to naturally drain away a poisonous industrial byproduct called TCE.

Continue reading the article by James Poulos about bacteria fighting pollution from Good Magazine