E.Coli Cleans up Pollution, Article Writing Example

Who thought E.Coli could prevent us from food poisoning? When we think of E.Coli, we think of bad hamburgers and food poisoning, we don’t think of E.Coli as a naturally- occurring bacteria that could help prevent poisoning! Scientists from the International American University of Puerto Rico in the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, however, have discovered that E.Coli can in fact help absorb the toxic metal mercury found in polluted environments and prevent the this toxic from accumulating in animals.

Mercury is released into the environment, particularly lakes, wetlands, waterways, and oceans, through many different human and natural activities. In these environments, mercury can be converted to a highly toxic compound that is absorbed by living organisms six times more easily than its original form. The toxin can also cross barriers within animal brain and fetal cells causing detrimental effects in reproduction, brain development, and behavior and in some cases it can be lethal.

Mercury accumulates in living organisms through what is termed, “Bioaccumulation”. In bioaccumulation, small organisms consume the mercury passively through their surface or through the consumption of food. The mercury then accumulates in these small organisms and larger predators consume these small organisms containing the accumulated mercury. Eventually, the accumulation of mercury has reached the top of the food chain. Over time, the larger predators at the top of the food chain could acquire massive amounts of mercury.

There has been struggle with a biological system that is capable of removing the mercury from these environments; however, researchers at the University of Puerto Rico have in fact discovered a gene that is able to survive high levels of mercury. This study has been published in BMC Biotechnology in 2011. The researchers state, “Here, we provide the first unequivocal example of metallothionein protection against mercury in bacteria.”

In the study, the researchers used genetic engineering to incorporate specific genes into E.Coli in order to enhance mercury resistance and mercury accumulation. They used Metallothionein and polyphosphate kinase because these molecules are known to be metal scavengers. The researcher’s goal was to find a suitable gene that could actually be resistant to mercury and remove the mercury from the surrounding medium.

The researchers found that both the metallothionein and polyphosphate kinase were successfully expressed in the E.Coli; however, it was found that the metallothionein gene was able to withstand lethal levels of mercury. With these results, the researchers suggested that the metallothionein gene would probably have the greatest potential for bioremediation. They tested the metallothionein in mercury and found that not only was it illustrating resistance to mercury, but that it actually removed mercury.

The researchers concluded that the E.Coli bacteria containing the metallothionein gene is capable of bioremediating and accumulating mercury from contaminated liquids. Oscar Ruiz, the lead scientist exclaimed, “Our bacteria are not only very resistant to mercury but also accumulate mercury to high concentrations within the bacterial cell. Unlike other transgenic bacteria, ours do not release mercury into the environment”.

The results of the study were a breakthrough for advancements in mercury remediation processes and genetic engineering. Of course there are many issues and many developments that need to occur before this type of system can be implemented into the environment. For instance, how would these systems be integrated into large bodies of water? In addition, in some instances the construction of reservoirs would be needed in order for this process to occur. Furthermore, could there be any effects of releasing the bacteria itself into the environment? These are also questions that need further investigation; however, for the time being this is a great advancement in mercury bioremediation.