Saving the Environment with Metal Eating Bacteria

A Chilean scientist believes manipulating extremophile bacteria to eat metal can save the environment from mining waste.

The mining industry is one of the biggest sources of global pollution (Image Credit: Public Domain).

Sitting in her laboratory 1,100 kilometers north of Santiago, Nadac Reales watched bacteria devour a nail in only 3 days. It was an idea she’d had since university. Working closely with her country’s many mining plants to increase the efficiency of copper extraction, she focused on using microorganisms to help separate copper from the surrounding ore, a process known as biomining. Today, she has her own company, an international patent, and an idea she believes will save the environment from the destructive nature of the mining industry.

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The Electron Thief

Reales traveled to the acidic Tatio geyers, over 4000 meters in the Chilean Andes to collect bacteria called Leptospirillum. This was chosen for two reasons. First, it’s an extremophile, meaning it can survive in extremely harsh conditions, such as in the presence of metals that are…