Production of nanowires possible with bacteria

Derek Lovley and his colleagues at the University of Massachusetts have discovers that the Geobacter bacterium can produce nanowires. The bacteria is normally used to clean up toxins. Geobacter does not need oxygen to breathe, but metal. This probably explains why the bacterium leaves nanowires with a diameter of 3nm to 5nm when it is working. It is not yet known exactly what metal the nanowires are made of. However, the genetic code in Geobacter responsible for making the threads does. This opens up the possibility of modifying Geobacter in such a way as to apply the desired structure of nanowires on a chip.

Transistors could be made in the future by applying the correct structure and type of nanowires to a surface. However, research into this is still in its infancy. Still, both Intel and AMD believe that nanowires could be used for chip manufacturing in the future. Whether the Geobacter bacteria will play a role in this is difficult to say. To make a functioning chip, the patterns of nanowires must be accurately applied and it remains to be seen whether the bacteria can be modified in such a way that this becomes possible.