Washington, October 09: Scientists have discovered a bacteria species that forms metallic gold — but it’s unlikely to make anyone rich.
An international team has found that the bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans catalyses the biomineralisation of gold by transforming toxic gold compounds to their metallic form using active cellular mechanism.
According to the scientists, they have found evidence indicating that there may be a biological reason for the presence of these bacteria on gold grain surfaces.
“A number of years ago we discovered that the metal-resistant bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans occurred on gold grains from two sites in Australia. The sites are 3500 km apart, in southern New South Wales and northern Queensland, so when we found the same organism on grains from both sites we thought we were onto something.
“It made us wonder why these organisms live in this particular environment.
–PTI