Bacteria Used To Make Radioactive Metals Inert

The Lost Orphan Mine (PDF) below the Grand Canyon hasn't produced uranium since the 1960s, but radioactive residue still contaminates the area. Cleaning the region takes an expensive process that is only done in extreme cases, but a biochemistry professor is researching the use of sulfate-reducing bacteria to convert toxic radioactive metal to inert substances, a much more economical solution.

The bacteria being studied are bio-corrosives and can change the solubility of heavy metals. They can take uranium and convert it to uraninite, a nearly insoluble substance that will sink to the bottom of a lake or stream. The professor is looking into the bacteria's water cleansing ability and how long the changed material would remain inert.

The research could also be beneficial to heavy metal pollution from storage tanks and industrial waste. The bacteria are already present in more than 7,000 heavy metal contaminated sites, but they live in a specific range of oxygen and temperature, making them difficult to control.

According to the professor, knowledge of the way bacteria live in microbial communities is still in its infancy and relatively little is known about the communication systems among microbes. Researchers are investigating the bacterium's basic genetics and hope to learn how to make its interactions with metals sustainable. They have already identified a few genes that are critical to converting uranium.

Original article here.