3 ms·
Genetic modification to the rescue! Would be even more valuable if they can do it for toxic metals like arsenic and mercury.
by vincie 13y ago
Genetic modification to the rescue! Would be even more valuable if they can do it for toxic metals like arsenic and mercury.
- ekianjo 13y agoI'm not sure where I read it, but I do remember that plants such as broccoli and similar species can suck out heavy metals from the ground. Not sure how much or how fast, though.
- Wingman4l7 13y agoMustard plants are the ones that readily come to mind; apparently it's called phytoremediation.
- Wingman4l7 13y agoResearch has already been done on phytoremediation of heavy metals using mustard plants and bioaccumulation with various species of fungi.
- Turing_Machine 13y agoBacteria are already being used to extract economically significant amounts of metals from ore bodies and mine waste. ATW, up to 25% of the world's supply of new copper is now produced this way. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomining http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomining
- jessaustin 13y agoThat Wikipedia article is the least-sourced one I've seen in years. It has one cite, from "June 1994". Not to contradict you, and I'm sure that biomining is important, but I thought it was interesting to see a Wikipedia article like that. Biomining must not be a controversial topic!