Ryan Summers, a doctoral researcher from the University of Iowa, has discovered bacteria (Pseudomonas putida CBB5) that feed on caffeine. He, and his colleagues, first encountered the bacteria in a campus flowerbed (in a summary to his research, Summers wrote: “Due to the extensive presence of caffeine in the environment, it is not surprising that there are bacteria that can ‘eat’ this molecule for growth and reproduction.”).

Caffeine-feeding bacteria have been discovered before, but Summers isolated three enzymes that convert the caffeine’s carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen molecules into carbon dioxide and ammonia. The discovery may facilitate the production of green chemicals and cheaper drugs.

At the rate I’m able to consume coffee, I’m beginning to wonder if I have any of those little guys in my system…