p2pnet.net News:- In a discovery that’s completely changed our understanding of how microbes handle electrons, a strain of bacteria with the ability to build conducting nanowires has been identified, says EE Times.

Derek Lovley and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts, “reported observing and measuring the conductivity of long wires, 3 to 5 nanometers in diameter, emanating from the Geobacter bacteria,” says the story.

“Exactly what the wires are made of is still under investigation, but the gene that codes for them has been identified, Lovley said. That opens up the possibility of using genetic engineering and systems biology to manufacture wires with predetermined properties.”

Lovley discovered Geobacter, until now used for cleaning up toxic waste, in the mid-1980s and a key step in its metabolism is the transfer of electrons from its interior to metals in its surroundings, says the story.

Aristides Patrinos, associate director of the US Department of Energy, which has been the main supporter of Lovley’s work over the past two decades, says the bacteria may organize to form mini power grids in the soil by linking up via the nanowires.

“That type of organized behavior might also lead to ultrasmall environmental sensors or novel ways to bioengineer nanocircuits,” says EE Times.

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See:-
EE Times – Bacteria grow conductive wires, August 8, 2005

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