WiredInUSA September 2016

INDEX

MAKING THENEWS Finest of fine wires?

Microbiologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are making electrical wires that are thousands of times thinner than a human hair. Microbial nanowires are produced by a genetically modified soil bacteria, Geobacter sulfurreducens. Researchers manipulated the bacteria to spin out very fine, highly conductive wires composed of amino acids. Two naturally occurring amino acids in the Geobacter bacteria were replaced with tryptophan, and not only was the result 2,000 times more conductive, the “wire” became smaller and more durable, with a diameter of 1.5 nanometers (about 60,000 times thinner than a human hair). Dr Derek R Lovley, the team’s lead researcher, said that the wires can

be sustainably produced from inexpensive materials, such as acetic acid. “We are very excited about the possibilities for synthetic biological wires,” he wrote in an email statement. “...It is expected that the biowire will be incorporated into various polymer materials to make new types of biocompatible flexible electronics and even new types of devices for harvesting solar energy.” The experiment was funded by the office of naval research, but there are many potential uses for the nanotechnology other than military applications, particularly in the health and medical sector.

wiredInUSA - September 2016

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