Microorganisms play great role in producing food, such as
milk products, beer, wine, bread etc. Other than this, they are used for
getting completely new types of products.
With the advancement of biotechnology
microorganisms are starting to be used for dividing some metals from materials
that contain iron and sulfur. This has been enabled by the discovery of a type of
bacteria called chemoautotrophic bacteria.
They use iron sulfate for food in a
specific way. They divide the sulfate from the iron, thus releasing sulfuric
acid which bonds with not easily soluble materials (copper, zink, nickel) and
creates soluble compounds.
The main microorganism that is used for dividing
metals is Thiobacilus ferroxidans which oxygenates the iron sulfate, thus
releasing sulfuric acid that ravages the ore. The bad side of this process is
the creating of many toxic substances which are contained in the ore, including
gold, mercury, arsen and sulfuric acid.
This method is less present because of
the pollution and it is in a developing stage. Researchers are working on finding better methods for cleaning the
toxic wastewater.
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