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E Coli And Its Effects On The Environment

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Introduction When we think of bacteria we don’t think of them as being a good thing especially when we think of Salmonella or Ecoli. It brings a sick feeling to your stomach or a cringe. But these microbes are being used for the greater good. Scientist are putting them to work. They are being genetically altered or medically laced to fight disease or to absorb lethal substances in the environment that contaminates our soil, water, and vegetation. If you can teach them or expose them to the appropriate environment they can be beneficial. Some might call this playing God while others may see it as a useful tool to put something there is an abundance of or is naturally occurring in a place where there is contamination and create a healthy …show more content…

There is hopes that some of the Mercury that has been filtered can then be recovered for later use in industrial technologies (Griggs, 2011).
Geobacter sulfurreducens
Geobacter Sulfurreducens is an obligate anaerobe, non-fermentative, non-motile comma-shaped rod, gram-negative bacteria commonly found in soil (Runge 2003). Mining for Uranium became a necessity during the Cold War but eventually we came to our senses The old Rifle Mill in Western Colorado was where The United States obtained its resources for uranium to help build nuclear bombs. Now that we have stopped trying to blow eachother up, the lasting effects still linger. Some microbes such as Geobacter sulfurreducens change uranium from its harmful form that can be dissolved in water to a form that will not dissolve. This allows it to settle out and be removed. Vinegar added to the soil containing the microbe helps it grow. The United States paid for research completed by The Department of Energy that tested this microbe. The research was conducted on wells, that were contaminated with Uranium, in the Old Rifle Uranium Mills. The tests were a success and the uranium levels were initially lowered by over 70%. Later tests showed the uranium levels were lowered by 90%. Besides lowering uranium levels, scientist isolated a specific gene of the Geobacter sulfurreducens that might help in creating a supermicrobe that may be used to clean up uranium sights around the world.

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