New Renewable Energy Source Discovered in Bacteria; Tiny Biofuel Provider Probably Existed Before Life on Earth

Research explains how tiny bacteria can be a solution to the lack of renewable energy. The quest for the most eco-friendly and low-cost infrastructure for green energy begins with the bacteria Shewanella oneidensis.

Cornell University experts have recently examined the potential methods to solve the most challenging puzzle in the field of environmental studies. The question is how people would attain the most eco-friendly, low-cost infrastructure capable of harvesting, storing, and producing green energy that we need in the planet's current situation, instead of using an energy source from toxic wastes or contributors of carbon footprints.

Shewanella oneidensis a Natural Electrode, Solution to Lack of Renewable Energy

The solution that the study found has been identified not on a massive body but through the tiny eco-saver known as the Shewanella oneidensis. The said organism is a type of bacteria that utilizes electrons as it undergoes the metabolism phase.

The process of the microbe alternately allows a method that seemingly fixes the atmospheric carbon contents. The processing of carbon in Shewanella oneidensis' metabolism is also found generally on other organisms scattered throughout the ecosystem, including the plants and microorganisms.

Cornell University's bioengineering expert and author of the study Buz Barstow, together with their colleagues, attempted to utilize the precursor carbon emitted during the specified bacteria's metabolism and engineer it to become an organic source of energy also called biofuels.

The latest study focused on potential approaches to be applied to the Shewanella oneidensis to store energy while its activities take place.

Barstow said in a Sustainability Times report that there are a few recorded microbes that can store renewable electricity, and not much can actually fix carbon dioxide contents in the atmosphere. For the experts to determine the functions of each gene available, they utilized a new approach they call 'knockout sudoku.'

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Bacteria as Reliable Biofuel?

According to the examination results, the team found that many genes are already capable of letting electrons in and out of the cell. The set of new genes discovered, according to the experts, have not been observed to harness electrons into themselves.

University of Cincinnati microbiology expert and author of the study Annette Rowe was responsible for pointing out each of the genes' pathways that they utilized to move the electrons into the bacteria Shewanella oneidensis during its metabolism process.

These pathways are the connections that allow carbon dioxide to transition into sugars. The product of the bacteria's metabolism could be developed into a biofuel that is cheaper than the traditional fuels and, most importantly, can be upgraded to a more powerful source.

The homologous genes also caught the attention of the researchers, as it is unusually present in many types of bacteria. With that said, the experts theorized that different bacteria have been using the same pathway the present-day microbes have for them to manage electrons since the early Earth, even before photosynthesis and life on the planet existed.

The microbe's possible solution against the lack of eco-friendly and efficient energy sources is one of the greatest discoveries that may turn the tables of the extremities we experience today. The coverage of the study is published in the journal Communications Biology, titled "Identification of a Pathway for Electron Uptake in Shewanella oneidensis."