Better Fuel Cells Using Bacteria
Bioengineer Tim Gardner says synthetic biology could create bacteria that produce electricity from waste more efficiently.
ByWhat if you could power your house with sewage? Or run your pacemaker with blood sugar rather than a traditional battery? Scientists hope that microbial fuel cells -- devices that use bacteria to generate electricity -- could one day make this vision a reality.
While typical fuel cells use hydrogen as fuel, separating out electrons to create electricity, bacteria can use a wide variety of nutrients as fuel. Some species, such as Shewanella oneidensis and Rhodoferax ferrireducens, turn these nutrients directly into electrons. Indeed, scientists have already created experimental microbial fuel cells that can run off glucose and sewage. Although these microscopic organisms are remarkably efficient at producing energy, they don't make enough of it for practical applications.
Tim Gardner, a bioengineer at Boston University (and member of the 2004 TR35
),
has developed a new technique for understanding the networks of genes
that regulate the chemical reactions taking place in bacterial cells.
The resulting "map" will be an advance for the field of synthetic
biology: the quest to design and build biological systems that can
perform specific functions. Gardner's team aims to harness the genetic
control system to engineer bacteria that can produce energy more
efficiently.
[...]
http://www.techreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=16921&ch=biztech
