Microbes Can Produce Miniature Electrical Wires
June 23, 2005 | Source: KurzweilAI
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have discovered a tiny biological structure that is highly electrically conductive.
The conductive structures, known as “microbial nanowires,” are produced by a novel microorganism known as Geobacter. The nanowires are only 3-5 nanometers in width, but durable and more than a thousand times long as they are wide.
The finding could provide new approaches to using microbes to assist in the remediation of DOE waste sites; to support the operation of mini-environmental sensors, and for the development of extremely small electronic devices.
Geobacter are the subject of intense investigation because they are useful agents in the bioremediation of groundwater contaminated with pollutants such as toxic and radioactive metals or petroleum. They also have the ability to convert human and animal wastes or renewable biomass into electricity.