Cleaning radioactive metal contamination is a challenging business--expensive, tedious, and sometimes nearly impossible. Now, a University of Missouri biochemistry professor might have a better bacteria-based solution within her grasp.
Mizzou's Judy Wall is studying a widespread sulfate-reducing--and stinky--bacterium called Desulfovibrio vulgaris found in soil that metabolizes radioactive and heavy metals. Think iron pipes corroding underground. The bacteria prompt an electron transfer that can turn uranium into the mineral uraninite, which will sink in water.
"So if you're not going to drink it from your faucet, you can be protected from consuming [the uraninite]," Wall says. Bacteria are a lot like people--they're not all good or bad, she says. Through Department of Energy-supported research, Wall and scientists at the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory in California are trying to figure out how best to tap this bacterium's good side, especially since oxygen can kill it.
The scientists want to know how much oxygen the bacteria can withstand, which environmental factors affect it, what stimulates its growth, and what happens to the precipitated metals over time. So far, the scientists have identified several genes in the bacterium that are important for cleaning up uranium. Wall's colleague at LBNL Terry Hazen is also conducting experiments with contaminated soil. According to the EPA there are more than 1,000 sites around the United States contaminated with radioactive waste. When it comes to daunting cleanups, the answer might already be in the ground.
Photo: Oxygen, you can't touch this: University of Missouri professor Judy Wall with sulfate-reducing bacteria. Credit: MIZZOU magazine.
Tags: Biotechnology, Genetic Science, Green Science, Green Tech, Water
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