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Bacteria Used to Create Nanowires
FnH writes "Derek Lovley and his colleagues of the University of Massachusetts discovered that the Geobacter bacteria is capable of producing nanowires. The bacteria is normally used to clean up toxic waste. Geobacter does not use oxygen, but metal as its source for power. This probably explains the 3nm to 5nm nanowires it excretes while working. What metal the nanowires are made of is not yet known, but the genetic code responsible for their creation is. This opens up the possibility of modifying the bacteria to create nanowires on chips."
Dupe.
According to the article, the bacteria seem to produce these tiny wires which then carry electrical signals across large meshes of bacteria-produced wires. It would be interesting to see what sort of emergent behavior, if any, would arise from very large meshes of these wires and bacteria.
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
This opens up the possibility of modifying the bacteria to create nanowires on chips.
In the same was as it opens up the possibility of modifying the bacteria to code Linux kernel patches.
This certainly is cool biotech, but slapping this wild prediction on to the end of the article doesn't make it more so.
Unfortunately, I am not Wil Wheaton
Hey, if the editors can dupe, why not you?
Wake me up when they finally find bacteria that use Bluetooth.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever.
- George Orwell