Bacteria Used to Create Nanowires

FnH writes "Derek Lovley and his colleagues of the University of Massachusetts discovered that the Geobacter bacteria is capable of producing nanowires. The bacteria is normally used to clean up toxic waste. Geobacter does not use oxygen, but metal as its source for power. This probably explains the 3nm to 5nm nanowires it excretes while working. What metal the nanowires are made of is not yet known, but the genetic code responsible for their creation is. This opens up the possibility of modifying the bacteria to create nanowires on chips."

Dupe

[SlashEdsDoYourJobs]

Dupe [slashdot.org].

oxigen?

[EvilMonkeySlayer]

Derek Lovley and his colleagues of the University of Massachusetts discovered that the Geobacter bacteria is capable of producing nanowires. The bacteria is normally used to clean up toxic waste. Geobacter does not use oxigen, but metal as it's source for power. This probably explains the 3nm to 5nm nanowires it excretes while working. What metal the nanowires are made of is not yet known, but the genetic code responsible for their creation is. This opens up the possibility of modifying the bacteria to create nanowires on chips.

Ah, carrying on the great /. tradition. Never use spellcheck, to the extreme!

Re:oxigen?

[gkuz]

as it's source for power

Never use spell check, and never learn elementary-school English grammar, either.

Re:The bacteria "link up" with each other

[k98sven]

No, they don't carry signals. (What signals would there be to carry?)

The reduction of metal (iron) in a geobacter metallireducens bacteria functions as little more than an electron sink for getting rid of electrons at the end of the respiratory chain.

Fe3+ (metal ion from the environment) + 3 e- --> Fe (metal)

There are other bacteria which turn nitrate into nitrogen and sulphur into H2S (smelly bastards!), among others.

We humans (and our relatives) do this using oxygen:
O2 (oxygen from the environment) + 4 e- + 4H+ --> 2 H2O (water)

There's nothing particularily surprizing about the fact that it produces metal. Nor is it terribly surprizing that the metal comes out as a long strand. Respiration is a rather continuous process, after all!

So no signalling. (And what could they possibly signal anyway?) But that doesn't mean there couldn't be benefits for the bacteria to have its metal threads connected. It might help ground any excess negative charge on the resulting metal, aiding the respiration process.

Re:Geobacter infected metals

[SimilarityEngine]

Actually, geobacter is more interesting for its ability to decontaminate soil [geobacter.org].

Re:Possible cyberjack material?

[uberchicken]

Yah, I recognised it too.. not that I was in any way trawling for karma nicks.

Re:Geobacter infected metals

[1u3hr]

They're talking about them being rust monsters. And that could seriously weaken any structure. A high level fly over that sprays bacteria on a steel structure. Two months later, shoot holes in it using a bb gun

from followng a few links [nih.gov]: geobacter is anaerobic; it can tolerate a low level of oxygen, but basically lives in underground water with very low oxygen concentration. So spraying it not the air will kill it. Also, if I understand the chemistry (quite likely I haven't), it consumes rust, not iron per se.