Bacteria fed synthetic iron-containing molecules turn into electrical

The researchers, under the guidance of senior author Guillermo Bazan at UCSB, built a molecule called DFSO+, which contains an iron atom at its core. To add the DFSO+ to bacteria, the researchers dissolved a small amount of the rust-colored powder into water and added that solution to bacteria. Within a few minutes, the synthetic molecule found its way into the bacteria's cell membranes and began conducting current through its iron core, providing a new pathway for the bacteria to shuttle electrons from inside to outside the cell.

Because the DFSO+ molecule's shape mirrors the structure of cell membranes, it can quickly slip into the membranes and remain there comfortably for weeks. The approach might need some tweaking before being applied to long-term power generation, the researchers say, but it's an encouraging initial finding.

This chemical approach to changing bacteria's capabilities will most likely be cheaper than bacteria genetically engineered to do the same job. "It's a totally different strategy for microbial electrical energy generation," says the other co-first author, Nate Kirchhofer (@natekirchhofer), formerly a grad student at UCSB and now a postdoctoral researcher at Asylum Research in Santa Barbara, CA. "Before, we were building these devices, and we were limited to optimizing them by changing reactor materials and architectures or using genetic engineering techniques."

The researchers call the DFSO+ molecule a "protein prosthetic" because it is a non-protein chemical that does a protein's job. "It's sort of analogous to a prosthetic limb, where you're using a plastic limb that's not actually made out of someone else's body," says Rengert.

Understanding how electrogenic bacteria consume organic fuels and use their metabolic processes to generate electric currents could lead to more efficient biological electricity-generating technology. "It's useful to have a well-defined, well-understood molecule that we can interrogate," says Kirchhofer. "We know how it's interfaced with the bacteria, so it gives us very precise electrochemical control over the bacteria. While this molecule might not be the best one that will ever exist, it's the first generation of this kind of molecule."

A Ferrocene-Based Conjugated Oligoelectrolyte Catalyzes Bacterial Electrode Respiration
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451929417300013

So when can I have these bacteria implanted in my palms? I wanna zap people like a sith.

>>109848
UNLIMITED POOOOOWER

>>109851
dragon ball z fights irl. nice.

>>109839
Of course if we stopped eating bugs (big animals), we wouldn't excrete toxic waste.

>>109848
We're talking about mild current here, and the article is misleading as many bacteria species can generate current. Lots of people use their algae farms as a bioreactor, for instance. You can also use a Winogradsky column.

>>110239
Explain yourself

>>109848
or a electric hedgehog pokemon