Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl, known as “forever chemicals,” are harmful to human health and likely in the drinking water of hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. They also take hundreds of years, and maybe longer, to break down in the environment and they linger in the human body. But research at ASU led by Fulton Schools Professor Bruce Rittman (pictured), director of ASU’s Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, has found a certain kind of microorganism can play a role in removing “forever chemicals” and other contaminants from water. The discovery holds out hope for developing methods for removing these chemicals without current methods that have drawbacks like causing water pollution.