The Future is Now - Viruses Engineered to Build Batteries

                               "Our material is powerful enough to be able to be used in a car battery."

_45623791_virus-battery2
_45623791_virus-battery2

                               The virus picks up a carbon nanotube after being genetically engineered



This is from BBC news....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7977585.stm


"The virus is a so-called common bacteriophage which infects bacteria and is harmless to humans.

Three years ago the MIT scientists manipulated genes inside a virus that coaxed the particles to grow and self-assemble to form a nanowire anode one-tenth the width of a human hair."




They can essentially "grow" batteries.  They can make it any shape too, so it can fit easily within whatever gadget you want.

Can you imagine what might happen if we can genetically engineer bacteriophage even further? Could we  have them "repair" machines, (or parts of them)?

I think the fact that we can engineer viruses to build us nanowires is a sure sign we are living in the future.







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Emmi
Wow - I guess our robot servants of the future can be carried around in a vial. BBC also reported on an adenovirus that scientists are training to attack cancer cells.

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