Cleaning Up In High Level Radiation with Microbes

geomon writes "Research conducted by the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is featured on the DOE's Office of Science web site. PNNL's work with the Deinococcus radiodurans microbe is featured on the Office of Scienceweb site in the article Radiation Resistant 'Superbug' May Be Used in Cleanup of Radioactive Contaminants." I've read about this before - this article does a good job of bringing the latest advances together.

Comments

they used what?

[raygundan]

According to the article, the scientists used "unique high magnetic field Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry" to analyze the bacteria. Do these words actually mean something together? Or is it like saying that I put together a "open-source XML cross-platform NUMA per-pixel internet back-end serial port integration ecommerce rasterizer"?

Re:they used what?

[sacremon]

Okay, let's pricture this:

You have a container that is toroidal - like a circular particle accelerator - a cyclotron. Like the accelerator, the toroid is ringed with magnets.

The sample, comprised of a mix of proteins from the bacteria, is subjected to a process that ionizes the proteins. I'm not going into Fast Atom Bombardment (FAB) here. Just take my word for it that it is a routine practice to be able to ionize molecules the size of proteins.

The ionized sample speeds into the toroid and begins to travel around the circle. However, molecules of differing weights will have different periodicities. Since they are ionized, they are a moving charge, which generates a magnetic field. The field will be a composite of the individual fields generated by the different weight ions. Take a snapshot of the field, and apply Fourier Transform to generate the individual frequencies.

From the frequencies and the external magnetic field, one can deduce the weight of the ions, which is what mass spectroscopy is all about.

Stabilization, Not Destruction

[SEWilco]

The article makes more sense if you're aware that in Chemistry the word "reduce" means that a certain chemical reaction takes place. Far down in the article it is also mentioned that this organism produces insoluble material.

This article is reporting that this organism can be let loose (well, it's already around in small quantities naturally), fed, and after the resulting slime dies off there will be deposits which do not easily dissolve in water.

The purpose of this method is to turn radioactive leaks into bits that don't interact with the environment as easily as raw machined metal does. If there's strong radioactivity one still has to dig up the resulting solids and put them someplace safer until the radioactivity fades. That's weeks, decades, or millenia depending upon the material -- or fire up your nuclear accelerator and transmute them into safer stuff sooner.

Of course, they can't lower the radioactivity...

[smoondog]

These aren't fusion bugs, they are just resistant to high levels of radiation. They can break down compounds into more managable forms or do other useful things. The radioactive waste is still dangerous, though.

-Moondog

This can only resuly in one thing.

[BiggestPOS]

A real Life Spiderman. The Implications are enormous, seeing as a real-life superhero would make life just a little bit cooler.

Re: Dinococcus

[QuincyFree]

It's worth noting that Dinococcus' DNA repair mechanism exists because life in a dessicated environment (e.g. dry soil) causes breaks in the DNA strand. Because of genetic redundancy mediated through possessing three copies of its genome, Dinococcus can reanneal its genome using intact segments from multiple strands. Thus, Dinococcus has not adapted to conditions of high levels of radiation as its tolerance of radiation might suggest.

Address

[slashdoter]

does any one have an address to write to so I can get some, I have a problem that started with a bowl of chili, now it's in the bathroom.....

________

Re:A Bug's Life

[NecroPuppy]

So what they basically created is a microscopic cockroach to clean up the mess after a possible war.

Did you even read the article? They are talking about using this microbe to clean up nuclear facilities where leaks have occured. There isn't even a single mention of war in the entire article.

Re:What if...

[Mercaptan]

The bug is not invincible.

What is being described is not a super-bug. It has vulnerabilities like any other bacteria (you can kill it with antibiotics or Clorox). You could even engineer into it a kill-switch, allowing you to introduce some compound which would cause this bug to die.

In any case, the idea here is to make the nuclear waste immobile and insoluble, keeping it out of our water supplies and from spreading. I don't think any bacteria can actually render radioactive waste non-radioactive. This stuff just makes it easier to handle and contain.

Deinococcus radiodurans two unique qualities are its resistance to dessication and radiation. These properties result from D. radioduran's ability to quickly and faithfully repair its own DNA after severe damage. It is thought that this allows it to survive out in the open with very little water to shield its genetic material. UV, like the ionizing radiation from nuclear waste, tends to chop up an organism's DNA and make life difficult. And in this case, its useful if we want to have a bug that can operate in high-radiation environments.

Bacteria are the future for pollution treatment.

[Heidi Wall]

Especially genetically engineered bacteria. Imagine taking archaeobacteria from extreme conditions, such as thermal vents under the ocean, and then geneticall engineering them to solve common pollution problems? To eat oil, say, thus providing a good way of getting rid of oil slicks? Or to degrade plastics previously considered nonbiodegradable?

People are working on these things even now. I just hope that the proper precautions are taken, as bacteria of this sort can be considered as dangerous nanotechnology a few years to early.

I am not trying to scaremonger though - I think that research in this field should take place, no doubt about it.
--
Clarity does not require the absence of impurities,

Radioactive things STAY radioactive...

[JCCyC]

...no matter what chemical reactions occur to them. So, unless those microbes have cold fusion as part of their metabolism, you're left with radioactive metal (as opposed to the previously existing radioactive oxides and salts). The nice thing is they won't melt into the soil as easily as their unoxidated equivalent, but all radiation is still there. The radioactive metals have to be physically taken away from the place at some point. How?

This is true for non-radioactive poisonous metals too, for most metals don't like to stay unoxidated for long. Electron-hungry things in the environment like oxygen, sulphur, chloride and some organic materials will revert them back to their nasty, combined state. Again, you have to get the damn thing away from there ASAP.

Re:Great, then what?

[NecroPuppy]

So they have this nifty beastie that eats radioactive material.

No, they've got a neat little microbe that eats lactate, as mentioned in the article. What the microbe does is:

enzymatically reduce radionuclides and metal contaminants in the absence of air.

What waste products are left behind?

The radioactive particles are concentrated into a less mobile form which is more easily collected for disposal.

What does it eat once it runs out of radioactive goo?

It doesn't 'eat' the radioactive particles. The lacate it eats is applied to the contaminated area. Then the microbe is released into the area. As the microbe eats the lactate, the radioactive particles (plutonium, uranium, etc) are concentrated into "relatively insoluble and immobile forms".