Nirmal Yesoda
A team of scientists at the California Institute of Technology has discovered microbes that are capable of eating metals. Scientists revealed that these bacteria were discovered accidentally, and they suggested the existence of these microbes at least for more than a century.
Scientists made this mindblowing discovery while performing experiments with Manganese, a mineral that exists as a combination with iron. The discovery happened when Dr Jared Leadbetter, professor of environmental microbiology at Caltech left a glass jar covered with a substance to soak in his office room.
Due to off-campus work, Leadbetter did not turn up to his office for several months, and when he returned, the researcher was surprised to see the jar covered with a dark substance. Further analysis revealed that this dark substance was oxidized Manganese. Later, scientists confirmed that this oxidization was triggered by a unique type of bacteria.
“These are the first bacteria found to use manganese as their source of fuel. A wonderful aspect of microbes in nature is they can metabolise seemingly unlikely materials, like metals, yielding energy useful to the cell. There is evidence that relatives of these creatures reside in groundwater, and a portion of Pasadena’s drinking water is pumped from local aquifers,” said Leadbetter.
Leadbetter and his colleagues are now planning to learn more about these bacteria, and its probable uses, which include removal of pollutants from water, called bioremediation.