Describe how bacteria could be used to degrade hazardous wastes.

Bacteria can be genetically engineered for many purposes.
One such purpose is for the degradation of toxic wastes using metabolic pathways to do
so. By engineering the bacterial plasmid, which is a circular strand of DNA and
inserting extra genes, the bacteria may be able to perform tasks such as cleaning up an
oil spill or breaking down toxic wastes. Once a bacteria has been successfully modified,
after it reproduces by cell division, each cell thereafter will copy the bacterial DNA
and the gene that was inserted into the plasmid also. Therefore, a virtual endless
supply of these bacteria will result that can perform the desired
task.