MicrobeWorld

The gold you see in the photo above was not found in a river or a mine. It was produced by a bacteria that, according to researchers at Michigan State University, can survive in extreme toxic environments and create 24-karat gold nuggets. Pure gold.

Maybe this critter can save us all from the global economic crisis.

Or at least make Kazem Kashefi — assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics — and Adam Brown — associate professor of electronic art and intermedia — rich. They are the ones who have created a compact laboratory that uses the bacteria Cupriavidus metallidurans to turn gold chloride — a toxic chemical liquid you can find in nature — into 99.9 per cent pure gold.

Accoding to Kashefi, they are doing “microbial alchemy” by “something that has no value into a solid, precious metal that’s valuable”.