December 14 8:00
Biologists from Tomsk State University (TSU) have discovered a new type of bacteria that can absorb and process toxic waste from mining enterprises. RIA Tomsk reports this with reference to the university press service.
The global mining industry annually produces about seven billion tons of so-called “tailings” – waste containing toxic elements such as iron and arsenic. This waste pollutes groundwater, rivers and lakes. TSU scientists have discovered microorganisms in the tailings of the Bom-Gorkhon tungsten mine in Transbaikalia that can solve this problem.
The new species of bacteria is called Desulfosporosines cupriresistens. Its description has already been published in the authoritative international scientific journal Scientific Reports of the Nature publishing group.
These bacteria actually perform a natural detox. They “eat” sulfates – compounds of sulfur and oxygen, resulting in the formation of hydrogen sulfide. It reacts with heavy metals dissolved in water, turning them into insoluble and safe sulfides, explained Olga Karnachuk, head of the Department of Plant Physiology, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics at TSU.
Another discovery was the discovery in the same waste of spores of thermophilic bacteria that can work even at temperatures up to 60 degrees. Scientists suggest that they could have been carried by the wind from thermal springs.
It is important that biologists have already learned to grow beneficial bacteria in the laboratory. This process, they say, is simple and inexpensive, which opens up the possibility of industrial application of biological treatment technology for toxic waste.
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