Strength Bacteria Produced 24-karat Gold

At a time when the value of gold has reached an all-time high, Michigan State University researchers have discovered a bacterium's ability to withstand incredible amounts of toxicity is key to creating 24-karat gold.

A bioreactor uses a gold-loving bacteria to turn liquid gold into useable, 24-karat gold. (Picture from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/)

"Microbial alchemy is what we're doing -- transforming gold from something that has no value into a solid, precious metal that's valuable," said Kazem Kashefi, assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics.

However, alchemy doesn’t quite fit with what it happening here. The bacterium, Cupriavidus metallidurans, has evolved to survive with extremely high heavy metal stress. It’s not creating gold, as the term “alchemy” would imply. This organism is processing gold chloride into solid metallic gold. The MSU project has found this bacterium to be 25-times more resistant to toxicity than previously thought.

He and Adam Brown, associate professor of electronic art and intermedia, found the metal-tolerant bacteria Cupriavidus metallidurans can grow on massive concentrations of gold chloride -- or liquid gold, a toxic chemical compound found in nature. This bacteria plays a pivotal role in the natural formation of gold nuggets, but the researchers at MSU have managed to corral it in a bioreactor that can speed the process along.

The Great Work of the Metal Lover is an artwork that exists in two parts. The first part is an installation consisting of custom laboratory equipment including a glass alchemical bioreactor, a gas manifold and a gas tank filled with carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The process is all documented in real time by a USB microscope and a real time video feed. (Picture from: http://adamwbrown.net/)

When the bacteria are provided with gold chloride it takes about a week for the organisms to process the liquid, removing the gold from the solution. Small specs of gold precipitate out and collect at the bottom of the reactor for collection. The creation of this self-contained gold mine is the really interesting part, in my opinion.

The second part of Great Work 
of Metal Lover consists of a 
series of images made with a 
scanning electron microscope.  
(Picture from: http://adamwbrown.net/)

Some of the flowery language around this story might have to do with the art project incorporating the research. “Magnum Opus Metallidurans or The Great Work of the Metal Lover” is currently on display with a glass bioreactor where observers can watch gold being formed. There are also various images of the bacterium in the exhibit taken with a scanning electron microscope.

"The Great Work of the Metal Lover" was selected for exhibition and received an honorable mention at the cyber art competition, Prix Ars Electronica, in Austria, where it's on display until October 7, 2012. Prix Ars Electronica is one of the most important awards for creativity and pioneering spirit in the field of digital and hybrid media, Brown said.

"Art has the ability to probe and question the impact of science in the world, and 'The Great Work of the Metal Lover' speaks directly to the scientific preoccupation while trying to shape and bend biology to our will within the postbiological age," Brown said. *** [SCIENCEDAILY | GEEK.COM]

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