A team of researchers in Osaka, Japan has discovered a microbe that eats waste animal and vegetable oils, a significant cause of water pollution. Following five years of research, the group of scientists at the Osaka Municipal Technical Research Institute found a way to purify water by using the microbe. Led by chief researcher Akio Sugihara, the team recently succeeded in marketing products containing the microbe in collaboration with a food processing company in Osaka Prefecture. Discarded animal fats and vegetable oils are one of the most difficult pollutants to remove from water. About 400,000 tons of these oils are discharged every year by food manufacturers and ordinary households.