Researchers discover bacteria that produces pure gold

Researchers at Michigan State University have identified a bacterium able to segregate gold. The  Cupriavidus metalliduran  not only survives against toxic concentrations of gold chloride, and thrives. When feeding a colony, Kazem Kashefi and Adam Brown led the microbes create nuggets of 24-carat gold - pure gold. Kashefi and Brown achieved what seemed impossible: to produce one of the most valuable substances in the world.The process would be cost prohibitive on a large scale, so the dual transformed its discovery in the art facility - The Great Work of the Metal Lover.

The installation uses a live bacteria as " vehicle of artistic exploration , "says Brown. It consists of a portable laboratory made ​​of a hardware-plated 24-karat gold, one birreator glass The bacteria are fed with gold chloride, highly toxic substance to which organisms are quite resistant. In fact, in just one week they are able to handle the toxic material of precious metal, a process dubbed " microbial alchemy ".Researchers believe that this process usually occurs in the environment. The gold chloride can be found in nature and has no economic value.

The facility received an honorable mention in the contest cyber art  Prix Ars Electronica in Austria, where it will remain on display until October 7.

Source:  Ecouterre