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- A team of scientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany has found that bacterium C metallidurans manages to ingest toxic metallic compounds and still thrive, producing tiny gold nuggets as a side-effect.
- The study, published in the journal Metallomics, says that researchers have discovered the molecular processes that take place inside the bacteria.
- It is known fact that high concentrations of heavy metals, like copper and gold, are toxic for most living creatures. But this metal-gobbling bacteria is exception of this process.
- It has found a way to extract valuable trace elements from a compound of heavy metals without poisoning itself and produces tiny gold nuggets as a side-effect. It transforms toxic gold particles into harmless gold particles.
- The rod-shaped bacterium C metallidurans found in soils enriched with heavy metals.
