bacteria Archives – The Green Optimistic

Acinetobacter Baumannii: the Climate Change-Stemmed Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Arsenij Percov — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 04:56:33 +0000

Tom Patterson is an example of a person who was infected by a bacterium resistant to every antibiotic we know. Its name is Acinetobacter baumannii, and it’s often deadly. He became ill on his vacation in Egypt. Tom should have died, but he was saved by experimental bacteria-killing viruses known as bacteriophages. The same bacterium […]

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Jet Biofuel Produced with New E-coli Strain

Courtney Lepping — Thu, 12 May 2016 05:56:04 +0000

Ten years ago, who would have thought that in 2016 scientists would be using bacteria to transform switchgrass biomass into D-limonene, a precursor for bio-jet fuel? Regardless of doubts in biofuel uses, the global commercial airline industry is behind such methods. Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently engineered a [C2C1Im]-tolerant E. coli strain to […]

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Researchers Produce Energy from Rotten Tomatoes

Mila Luleva — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 16:46:02 +0000

Rotten tomatoes might be the latest source of renewable energy, courtesy of a research team from Princeton. The diversity of sources for production of renewable energy is incredible. Scientists keep finding new and exciting ways to stimulate the movement of electrons through mediums of all shapes, sizes and origins. Many of these sources, of course, are […]

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Ambio Is a Cool Bacteria-Powered Lamp

Mila Luleva — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 09:33:11 +0000

We have covered quite a number of stories that tell about the super efficient or super affordable lamp or a bulb, which will revolutionize your home. We have also told you about bioluminescent plants that could one day replace lighting systems. But we have not yet told you about a combination of the two- a […]

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Genetically Modified E.Coli Generate Renewable Propane

Mila Luleva — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 08:59:00 +0000

Bio-engineering techniques are rapidly becoming a very powerful tool for scientists to make bacteria produce virtually anything. The latest invention comes from a Finnish research team, who modified E.coli bacteria in a way that they can generate propane. The study appeared yesterday in Nature Communications, and describes how genetically altered bacteria can be turned into […]

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3D-Printed Device Detects Water Pollution Using Bacteria

Mila Luleva — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 08:44:23 +0000

With continuous depletion of fresh water resources around the world, monitoring water pollution is becoming more important than ever. Existing methods and instruments are often too complicated and too expensive for many rural communities. A team of researchers in the UK, however, has developed a device that is powered by bacteria and can detect the […]

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Loofah Extract, Waste & Bacteria Generating Cheap, Sustainable Electricity

Mila Luleva — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 18:53:26 +0000

Researchers from the Guangdong Institute of Eco-environmental and Soil Sciences in China have found a way to generate electricity from waste, by modifying traditional power-generating microbial fuel cells to function with much cheaper and more sustainable natural materials. Using loofahs, natural products extracted from the fruit of loofah plants, and carbon nanoparticles enriched with nitrogen, […]

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The Right Bacteria in Drinking Water Keeps it Safe

Leigh Hutchens — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 01:06:18 +0000

A research team from the University of Sheffield’s Faculty of Engineering made it their mission to study four bacteria known to exist in the city’s drinking water to in order to determine how to best keep the water supply safe while also limiting the need for chemical treatments. Their research involved biofilms – typically benign […]

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Battery-Like Bacterial Enzyme Stores Energy Biologically

Guest Contributor — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:41:23 +0000

Clean energy is now an almost achieved dream, especially with the newly reported Concordia University (Canada) physicists’ research findings. The researchers led by Associate Professor László Kálmán have been able to modify a battery-like enzyme so as to yield carbon-neutral energy. The study showed that there is possibility of extending the length of time the bacterial enzyme can store […]

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Mathematical Model Proves Anti-Fungal Paints Negatively Affect Ecosystem, Food Chain

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 21:11:03 +0000

At least once in your lifetime you’ve heard about anti-fungal painting, or even used it on your own home. Did you know that the same anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties of such a paint are unbalancing the ecosystem? A scientific study performed in Lausanne, Switzerland, says so. Sylvain Coutu, from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), […]

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Wood-Breaking Enzyme Discovered in Rhodococcus Jostii, A Soil-Living Bacterium

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 17:47:27 +0000

A team of researchers from the Universities of Warwick and British Columbia have discovered an enzyme in a soil-living bacterium called Rhodococcus jostii which can break down lignin, a component of the woody parts of plants. Their aim is to develop methods to process biomass that doesn't compete with food crops and that also offer cheap biofuels.

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Researcher Finds Method Of Producing Bioplastics From Waste By Training Special Bacteria

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:28:39 +0000

A doctoral thesis on the topic of converting agricultural wastes into high-quality bioplastics could reach the first page of newspapers these days. Jean-Paul Meinjen, a researcher at the Technical University of Delft, Netherlands, will be presenting how he actually trained and selected bacteria in an evolutionary process that is not to be neglected by any means.

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Cow Rumen Bacteria Provide Groundbreaking Knowledge For Biofuel Industry

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:24:30 +0000

They make use of the rumen bacterium as a model, as "it's one of the most efficient machines to deconstruct plant matter," said Isaac Cann, associate professor in the U of I Department of Animal Sciences and member of the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI).

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Heavily Modified E.Coli Bacteria to Make Biodiesel for Our Cars – Safe or Not?

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:56:37 +0000

E.coli is often associated with food poisoning and sickness. An associate professor of computer science at Rutgers University in Camden, Desmond Lun, is trying to perform a computer simulation of how E.coli could be genetically modified to produce more fatty acids, and hence biodiesel.

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Scientists Compartmenting Bacteria to Create Biodiesel and Vaccines

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 07:46:57 +0000

I have always thought that bacteria and genetics are not play with, but it looks like some researchers at the University of Kent and University College Cork have hacked into some simple bacteria's (like e-coli) inner structure and created compartments where they could synthesize biofuels and vaccines.

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Bacteria Colony Reacts with Seawater and Mud to Produce Electricity

Mike Sandru — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:30:13 +0000

Until now, scientists haven't been able to provide the reasons of just how bacteria generate electric networks that serve as long distance communication systems. They have known just that it can produce electric energy when mixed with seawater and mud, leading to the development of microbial fuel cells.

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New Discovery: Generating Electricity With Ground Bacteria Shewanella

Cristi — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:42:43 +0000

Bio-chemist David Richardson of the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom said that Shewanella is the ideal candidate for environmental-cleanup tasks as it lives in the underground: "Understanding their biochemistry could help to develop strategies to stimulate their activities [at the cleanup sites]."

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Solar-Powered Bacteria Convert Carbon Dioxide Into Biofuel

Mike Sandru — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:06:25 +0000

A team of U.S. researchers have developed a new way to generate alternative fuel from bacteria. They have genetically modified bacteria to eat CO2 and produce isobutyraldehyde, which can further be used to produce isobutanol.

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BACS: Biodegradable Packaging Fabricated by Bacteria

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:03:04 +0000

Today's civilized society sometimes uses weird ways of doing things, like packing software serial numbers in cardboard or a lot of plastic. A project, named Bacs, is using bacteria to make an interesting cellulose material for green packaging.

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The Best Way to Generate Electricity from Pig Poop

Cristi — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:07:53 +0000

Hog farms, where thousands of animals are raised, look really horrible and they pollute rivers, poison groundwater supplies and releaseclouds of methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

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Biodiesel Developed Safely from Rhodococcus Bacteria

Cristi — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:40:05 +0000

Using synthetic biology, researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are trying to develop a new bacteria similar to the tuberculosis root to produce biofuel.

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Soil-Based Stinky Bacteria To Be Used in Cleaning Radioactive Waste

Cristi — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:09:40 +0000

A chemistry professor from the University of Missouri may have found a way to clean radioactive metal contamination. The bacteria-based solution is able to work in this challenging business where most of technologies were too expensive or sometimes did not work.

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Geobacter Microbe Produces Electricity From Mud and Wastewater

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:04:39 +0000

Derek Lovley, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently experimented with a microbe named "Geobacter", who loves to live in sediments and mud, and whose hairlike filaments can produce electricity from the muddy environment it loves to live in.

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Scientists Developing Artificial Leaves to Produce Energy

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:11:49 +0000

Mimicking nature has been man's dream since he tried inventing the airplane, and even earlier. Mimicking a leaf for obtaining energy from the Sun has been even more challenging than learning to fly, though, until now, nobody succeeded imitating the evolution or creation or whatever our nature is made of.

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Bacteria Produces Hydrogen In More "Harsh" Conditions

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:10:06 +0000

Genetic engineering allowed human kind to evolve and differentiate certain species of food, make them better or more productive. Likewise, genetic engineering is blamed to have ruined the natural evolution path of the affected plants or animals. Now, genetic engineering is being used to extract energy for us, in the form of hydrogen.

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Nostoc Bacteria Could Be Used as Hydrogen Source

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:47:19 +0000

Scientists from the University of Sheffield, UK have demonstrated that some bacteria named Nostoc could be used to power our future hydrogen cars. Their research was published in the journal Bioinformatics, and it could have powerful green consequences for the environment.

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65% More Biofuel From Chinese Rice Straw

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 31 May 2008 05:32:48 +0000

A team of chinese researchers discovered a way to a new biofuel. Their new study, scheduled for the July 16 issue of ACS' bimonthly journal Energy & Fuels, describes a way to boost production of biofuel from rice straw by almost 65 percent.

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Pure Green Energy From Cow Farms

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:37:56 +0000

Some Washington University engineers using an advanced imaging technology found out that vigorous mixing helps microorganisms turn farm waste into a source of alternative energy. Hog and cow manure is a persistent pollutant from very large, industrial-sized barns and feed lots, but can become a very useful resource of methane when broken down by bacteria. […]

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Algae Making Hydrogen – solution or biohazard?

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:00:19 +0000

Recently, a team of biologists demonstrated that some algae, named Chlamydomonas reinhardtii can produce hydrogen in a specific environment. Normally, these bacterias produce oxygen, but the scientists modified their genes, added copper to block the oxygen production, so the cells’ photosynthesis begins to synthesize hydrogenase and produces hydrogen. The algae also need light in order […]

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New Invention: Bacteria Eating CO2 From The Atmosphere

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:07:15 +0000

A scientist who mapped his genome and the genetic diversity of the oceans said Thursday he is creating a life form that feeds on climate-ruining carbon dioxide to produce fuel. Craig Venter (in the picture), a famous geneticist, announced his “fourth-generation fuel” project at an elite Technology, Entertainment and Design conference in Monterey, California. Between […]

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Bacteria Transforming Oil into Methane

Ovidiu Sandru — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 20:24:34 +0000

Canadian and English researchers succeeded demonstrating in 2007 that certain bacteria could fasten the process of making methane gas out of residual oil. In the technology currently used, only 17% of the oil extracted can be used for producing useful fuel, says an article from the Nature magazine. The microbes that the scientists used existed […]

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How Bacterial Hydrogen Fuel Cells Work

Ovidiu Sandru — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 16:02:07 +0000

“When bacteria are placed in the anode chamber of a specially-designed fuel cell that is free of oxygen, they attach to an electrode. Because they do not have oxygen, they must transfer the electrons that they obtain from consumption (oxidation) of their food somewhere else than to oxygen — they transfer them to the electrode. […]

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Bacteria Eats Pollution and Generates Electricity

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:05:24 +0000

Scientists have long studied bacteria that can clean up toxic waste by eating it. Other bacteria have been employed to produce electricity. Now scientists have found a two-for-one deal in bacteria that will eat toxic chemicals 24/7 and make electricity to boot. “The bacteria are capable of continuously generating electricity at levels that could be […]

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