According to Professor Ardemis Boghossian of EPFL's School of Basic Sciences, they were able to place a nanotube inside a bacteria. Bacteria Synechocystis and Nostoc are being studied and have shown promising results in bacteria illumination and photovoltaic living.
Nanobionic Technology
Boghossian's research, published in Nature Nanotechnology, is centered on nanobionic technologies. This technology combines the benefits of both the living and non-living worlds. Her research includes the nanomaterial applications of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), which are carbon atom tubes with intriguing mechanical and optical properties.
SWCNTs are ideal for new applications in nanobiotechnology due to their properties. One example is the benefit it provides when inserted into mammalian cells. According to the findings, SWCNT aided in the monitoring of the cell via near-infrared imaging. It then led to technologies used for genome editing and delivering therapeutic drugs.
Synechocystis and Nostoc Bacteria
By decorating the bacteria with positively charged proteins that are attracted by the negative charge of the bacteria's outer membrane, Boghossian's group was able to convince bacteria to spontaneously take up SWCNT.
The bacteria used were Synechocystis and Nostoc, which belong to the Cyanobacteria phylum and are considered gram-negative bacteria.
According to Wikipedia, Synechocystis is a genus of freshwater cyanobacteria in the Merismopediaceae family. On the other hand, Britannica defines Nostoc as a genus of blue-green algae whose cells are arranged in beadlike chains that form a gelatinous mass.
These gram-negative bacteria get their energy from photosynthesis. As a result of this process, SWCNTs could spontaneously penetrate the cell walls of both the unicellular Synechocystis and multicellular Nostoc.
Following their success with mammalian cells, the researchers wanted to see if the nanotubes could be used to image cyanobacteria. Boghossian explained that they created a custom setup to get an image of the unique near-infrared fluorescence produced by the bacteria's nanotubes.
Former Boghossian lab Ph.D. student Alessandra Antonucci stated that nanotubes can now be used to see what is going on inside cells that were previously difficult to image using more traditional particles or proteins. It is possible because the nanotubes' wavelengths are far in the red, or near-infrared. The nanotubes provide a very clear and stable signal, which other nanoparticle sensors can't provide.
Nanobionic Technology Addressing Photovoltaic Issues
According to Melania Reggente, a postdoctoral researcher in Boghossian's lab, their lab is now working on the concept of using nanobionic bacteria in a living photovoltaic.
Living photovoltaics are biological energy-generation devices that use photosynthetic microorganisms to generate energy. Scientists believe these devices would solve our ongoing energy crisis and efforts to combat climate change.
According to Boghossian, photovoltaic energy is green energy. However, the carbon footprint is huge. She claims that a significant amount of CO2 is released just to produce most standard photovoltaics.
Yet she said that what's nice about photosynthesis is that it not only uses solar energy but it also has a low carbon footprint. It absorbs CO2 instead of emitting it. As a result, it addresses two issues at once. These issues include solar energy conversion and CO2 sequestration.
Because the solar cells are also alive, each individual bacterial cell does not require the construction of a factory. These bacteria self-replicate. They automatically absorb CO2 to produce more of themselves.
Boghossian perceives a living photovoltaic device based on cyanobacteria with automated control over electricity production that does not rely on adding foreign particles. However, the cost and environmental effects of putting nanotubes inside cyanobacteria on a large scale are a roadblock to such development.
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