Posted on 10/07/2009 7:12:51 AM PDT by decimon
PRESS RELEASE- Australian scientists have found that the bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans catalyses the biomineralisation of gold by transforming toxic gold compounds to their metallic form using active cellular mechanism.
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This is the first direct evidence that bacteria are actively involved in the cycling of rare and precious metals, such as gold. These results open the doors to the production of biosensors: “The discovery of an Au-specific operon means that we can now start to develop gold-specific biosensors, which will help mineral explorers to find new gold deposits. To achieve this we need to further characterize the gold-specific operon on a genomic as well as proteomic level. If funding for this research is granted I believe we can produce a functioning biosensor within three to five years”, concludes Reith.
(Excerpt) Read more at esrf.eu ...
My thoughts exactly.
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