A report from BBSRC states that using bacteria to generate energy is a significant step closer following a breakthrough discovery by scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA).
Published by scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the research claims to demonstrate for the first time the exact molecular structure of the proteins that enable bacterial cells to transfer electrical charge.
The discovery means scientists can now start developing ways to tether bacteria directly to electrodes, to create efficient microbial fuel cells or bio batteries.
The advance could also hasten the development of microbe-based agents that can clean up oil or uranium pollution, as well as of fuel cells powered by human or animal waste.
Funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the US Department of Energy, the project is led by Dr Clarke, Prof David Richardson and Prof Julea Butt of UEA, in collaboration with colleagues at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the US.
In earlier research published by PNAS in 2009, the team demonstrated the mechanism by which bacteria survive in oxygen-free environments by constructing electrical wires that extend through the cell wall and make contact with a mineral: a process called iron respiration or 'breathing rocks'.
