Climate change and bacteria are
words that I couldn’t have imagined being used in the same sentence. But
according to some new research it may be possible that we may be hearing about
these two subjects being talked about jointly. The new information discovered
was that some genetically engineered bacteria could actually help fight climate
change, by capturing CO2 underground with the help of bacteria.
The research from Lawrence Berkley National
Laboratories have showed that bacteria could actually be genetically engineered
to aide in the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere and trapping it underground
for millions of years. This could
potentially help fight the current climate changes, because us as humans are
warming up the planet at an alarming rate by releasing carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere.
The researchers tested this by
genetically modifying Caulobacter
vibrioides. They inserted a short DNA sequence that coded for a loop of glutamic acids.
By doing this the bacteria were able to attract CO2 to form CaCO3 that could be
trapped underground,
which in turn would fight climate change.
Jenny Cappuccio the lead scientist in this investigation admitted, “results need to be demonstrated in conditions
closer to real life”. Meaning that there is still a lot more work to be done to
prove that this can actually help fight climate change on a large scale.
Although
this article introduces a very important topic it does not seem likely that we
will hearing of the genetically modified bacteria helping fight climate change
any time soon.
http://news.sciencemag.org/2012/02/genetically-engineered-bacteria-could-help-fight-climate-change?ref=hp
http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/images/a/a9/Caulocolor.gif
Cristian, the article that you read is fascinating it shows how very tiny almost useless microbes can be turned into a planet saver. Of course this research will take many years to develop and possibly government approval, but I think it could benefit our planet. As humans we were unaware of our ruthless damage to our home planet. It is now, a struggle for us to keep the earth healthy and still live our daily lives. If we could solve this problem by simply introducing carbon “eating” microbes into the equation, then it would be easy for us to continue our lives. This research might take many years to develop and implement. If it is implemented it might take several years until we see a difference in the atmosphere pertaining to carbon dioxide. The microbes will also need to be monitored because we cannot eliminate all the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because some is need for plants to survive. The climate might also suffer a huge change which might shock people and cause more controversy. It will be interesting to see where this study goes.
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising to read the bacteria can one day be used to regulate climate change. This use of bacteria will one day be extremely useful because I it is no secret that mankind is taking care of the planet and it looks like we're getting worse and worse. To think that bacteria can be used to attract Co2 and trap it underground to keep the climate from getting warmer is very impressive but I feel like there could be a problem with this. Because bacteria do multiply, I wonder what will be done to keep there from being a surplus of genetically modified bacteria in the atmosphere attracting to much carbon dioxide. I also wonder if their wonder be any affect to the soil/earth from all the Co2 being trapped underground
ReplyDeleteYou all raise good questions about the possible down side to such an experiment. We have some spectacular failures in our history because we didn't think of negative consequences.
ReplyDelete