IPFS News Link • Science, Medicine and Technology
Scientists Engineer Extreme Microorganisms To Make Fuel From Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
• http://www.popsci.com, By Colin LecherUniversity of Georgia researchers recently used the mighty Pyrococcus furiosus, which usually eats carbohydrates and lives in super-heated waters or volcanic marine mud (ideally, for it, at about 100 degrees Celsius). By toying with the genome-sequenced microorganism's genetic material, they were able to make it comfortable in much cooler waters, and to eat carbon dioxide. After that, using hydrogen gas to form a chemical reaction in the microorganism, the researchers got the microorganism to produce 3-hydroxypropionic acid, a common chemical used in household products.
1 Comments in Response to Scientists Engineer Extreme Microorganisms To Make Fuel From Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
If this pyrococcus takes all the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, WHAT WILL ALL THE OTHER PLANTS BREATHE? This is basic grade-school Biology; animals inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, and plants inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. If pyrococcus gets loose in the atmosphere, all the other plants will suffocate -- and then so will we. Real smart move, U of G.
--Leslie