The microbial hydrocarbon diet
Bioremediation of industrial sites and petrochemical spillages often involves finding microbes that can gorge themselves on the toxic chemicals. This leaves behind a non-toxic residue or mineralized material. view more (2009-06-12)
Aussie arsenic-eating bacteria may save lives and clean mines
Melbourne scientists plan to harness the strange appetite of newly discovered Australian bacteria to help purify arsenic-contaminated water. The research group, led by microbiologist Dr Joanne Santini of La Trobe University, is working out how to use bacteria that eat arsenic to clean up contaminated wastewater in Australian and overseas mining... view more... (2003-08-26)
Bacteria and nanofilters - the future of clean water technology
Bacteria often get bad press, with those found in water often linked to illness and disease. But researchers at The University of Nottingham are using these tiny organisms alongside the very latest membrane filtration techniques to improve and refine water cleaning technology. view more (2008-02-25)
Yorkshire environmental business shows mushrooming diversity
Yorkshire based Gourmet Woodland Mushrooms outlined how its products can be used successfully in the bioremediation and pharmaceutical sector at the White Rose University Consortium Bioscience Forum today (03 November). view more (2004-11-02)
Genes that make bacteria make up their minds
Bacteria are single cell organisms with no nervous system or brain. So how do individual bacterial cells living as part of a complex community called a biofilm "decide" between different physiological processes (such as movement or producing the "glue" that forms the biofilm)? view more (2009-03-30)
Biological Rehab Plan For The Uk’s Derelict sites
Government launches £15 million research programme into biological clean-up of contaminated industrial sites An army of natural micro-organisms could soon help to clean up Britain’s industrial heritage thanks to a £15 million Bioremediation LINK Programme launched today by Science Minister Lord Sainsbury. The... view more... (2001-04-05)
Sunflowers that love heavy metal
Sunflowers take up uranium twice or even three times better than their maize and soybean counterparts, making them a top 'clean crop' for removing toxic metals from the environment. Scientists at the Centre for Pesticides and Environmental Research, Yugoslavia, studied growth and uranium uptake in sunflower, soybean and maize crops. Sunflowers... view more... (2001-04-01)
LRI Innovative Science Award - Rewarding Good Ideas
The deadline for applications for the LRI Innovative Science award is March 1, 2004. The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) in conjunction with the Federation of European Toxicologists and the European Societies of Toxicology (Eurotox) is offering a EUR100,000 award to support promising new research in the field of toxicology. The award is... view more... (2004-01-19)
Using microbes for the quick clean up of dirty oil
Microbiologists from the University of Essex, UK have used microbes to break down and remove toxic compounds from crude oil and tar sands. view more (2009-09-08)
In Nature, Proteins Sweep up Nanoparticles
Here's a pollution-control tip from nature: Deep inside a flooded mine in Wisconsin, scientists from several institutions including the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a world in which bacteria emit proteins that sweep up metal nanoparticles into immobile clumps. view more (2007-06-18)
Making Money From Microbes - Microbiology Today: February 2004 Issue
Microbes make money. Not literally of course, but they have been exploited by us for thousands of years to make products for our consumption, use or trade, such as beer, cheese and bread. More recent examples are antibiotics, genome sequencing, bioremediation and greener fuels. With ever more schemes set up or allocated bigger budgets to assist in... view more... (2004-02-10)
Decoding mushroom's secrets could combat carbon, find better biofuels & safer soils
Researchers at the University of Warwick are co-ordinating a global effort to sequence the genome of one of the World's most important mushrooms - Agaricus bisporus. view more (2007-07-18)
Scientists from the UGR are using olive stones to depollute industrial sewage water
Research carried out by the Department of Chemical Engineering makes it possible to remove chrome, a hard metal which can be dangerous for humans. view more (2007-05-24)
Science news from BBSRC
These are just some of the research stories featured in the July 2001 issue of BBSRC business, the community magazine of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Articles are available in full online at: www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/features/current.html New chicken vaccine eliminates need for drug intake for broiler chickens A new... view more... (2001-07-02)
Catalyst mystery unlocked
Different keys are not supposed to fit the same lock, but in biological systems multiple versions of a catalyst all make a reaction go, according to a new study that explains the phenomenon. view more (2008-08-19)
New bug to tackle pollution
A new, all-natural, pollutant-busting microbe has been discovered by scientists in Germany. Research published in the October 2003 issue of Microbiology, a Society for General Microbiology journal, describes a new strain of bacterium, which could be used in the near future to clean up polluted land. Over the years, many harsh and highly toxic... view more... (2003-10-10)
MTBE contamination: A microbial approach for groundwater
Max Häggblom's Rutgers laboratory has taken an important step on the path to using microbes to rid the environment of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), a toxic gasoline additive now classified as a potential human carcinogen. view more (2006-03-22)
Duckweed genome sequencing has global implications
Three plant biologists at Rutgers' Waksman Institute of Microbiology are obsessed with duckweed, a tiny aquatic plant with an unassuming name. Now they have convinced the federal government to focus its attention on duckweed's tremendous potential for cleaning up pollution, combating global warming and feeding the world. view more (2008-07-09)
Mine runoff continues to provide clues to microbial diversification
Pink slime at the surface of water trickling through an old mine in California is proving to be a treasure for researchers in their quest to learn more about how bacterial communities exist in nature. view more (2007-03-08)
Massive reanalysis of genome data solves case of the lethal genes
It is better to be looked over than overlooked, Mae West supposedly said. These are words of wisdom for genome data-miners of today. view more (2007-10-19)
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