Vocabulary building via TED Talk [Two young scientists break down plastics with bacteria] http://www.ted.com/talks/two_young_scientists_break_down_plastics_with_bacteria/transcript?language=en#t-731 [moldy accident] *referring Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin [biodegrade] decay caused by bacteria [plasticizer] substance added to synthetic resin [phthalate] a family of chemicals used in plastics [covalently bonded] molecular bond [plucking up the courage] [live off] depend on [culture] the cultivation of microorganisms [flask] a container [serendipitous] discovered by chance in a beneficial way [strain] subtype of a micro-organism [agar] jelly-like substance [inverse correlation] [catabolic] breaks down molecules into smaller units [enzyme] macromolecular biological catalysts [spectrophotometry] [aerobic respiration]