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One main goal in the renewable energy field is to find an efficient, inexpensive way to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen could then be used as a fuel source for vehicles or fuel cells. Typically, an electric current breaks the water down. Now, there’s a new water-splitter: a virus. M.I.T.’s Angela Belcher took her cue from plants, where special pigments capture solar energy in photosynthesis, involving the splitting of water.
Belcher and her team took a harmless virus called M13. They engineered it so that one end carries a catalyst—iridium oxide. Bound at the other end are light-sensitive pigments, zinc porphyrins. The porphyrins capture light energy, and transmit it along the virus, acting as a wire, to the other end, activating the catalyst. Which splits water into oxygen and the constituents of hydrogen, a proton and electron. The work appears in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. [See http://bit.ly/aP4HCN]
The scientists are working on ways to recombine the protons and electrons back into hydrogen atoms and then molecules of H2. They’re also seeking a cheaper catalyst than iridium. But the work could light one path to the eventual production of cleaner energy.
—Cynthia Graber
[The above text is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
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23 Comments
Add CommentAhhhh... I'm waiting for the paranoid amongst us to say:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"The virus will mutate and start to attack living organisms- vapourising them when they go out into the sun."
The virus will mutate and start to attack living organisms- vapourising them when they go out into the sun.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis technology should be eliminated.
The virus will mutate and start to attack living organisms- vapourising them when they go out into the sun.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOther side effects will include unnatural strength, a peculiar garlic allergy, and a strong craving for only liquid nourishment.
... and further mutations will turn the survivors into brain-eating zombies. Inevitably.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is not only the freakishly paranoid among us who have fundamental doubts about this sort of research. Those of intelligence who realize that in spite of the "high" level of knowledge possessed by the researchers, there is much that is unknown and great potential for human error. I would not squash promising research of this type, but I would appreciate sober awareness of how it could go wrong. I don't want these researchers to take a cavalier attitude that nothing could possible go wrong, that nothing bad can come of this. AIDS may well have been created by vaccination studies gone awry (No, I'm not presenting this as fact, just respecting possibilities). I'd hope for realistic assessments of realistic consequences and to proceed with caution and respect for the immensity of what we arrogant beings don't know. In between doom and gloom and the rosy outlook is reality, my friends.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow soon will this be purchased and found to be "unworkable"? I know that the kind and generous persons at Exxon are glad to hear of this development. And our government will be "powerless" to utilize the developments - we need the money to keep our military in foreign oil-producing states. Riiiiiight!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is a potentially great discovery. Complications, scale, feedstocks other than water, and all manner of unforeseen hurdles loom. But the potential is huge.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNot so paranoid just curious as to the consequences are if this engineered virus was somehow was introduced into a natural watershed ? I am assuming it would become inert due to the lack of catalysts but curious nonetheless.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWho will own the patent on this virus? This company will be the next Exxon if this technology is found to work?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiskapanen...i'm sure mit has a patent on this already and like always will sit on it until someone else actually starts doing it (probably china if the past proves true) and then they'll be right there trying to sue them;-)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thismaybe a little to pessimistic...they seem to be more into the actually doing something lately...
If the virus mutates, as viruses are known for, and gets out of control what is to keep it from rapidly reproduce and convert the large suply of H2o on this planet into its component parts?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSounds like a slight twist on Vonnegut's Ice 9 which froze the world when let loose.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe virus doesn't have to mutate. It already turns water into hydrogen and oxygen. And it has no known predators. (Maybe.) It's going to get loose in the water supply and dry up all the lakes. It'll get into the clouds and dry up all the rain. Do not want.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisVirus do mutate,and that's why we shoudn't worry.Virus have been around since life began its doubtful that a world ending strain would now come along,it's like the particles being made CERN,the same things been going on in the upper atmosphere from collisions with cosmic rays forever as well as in the sun.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"The virus doesn't have to mutate. It already turns water into hydrogen and oxygen. And it has no known predators. (Maybe.) It's going to get loose in the water supply and dry up all the lakes. It'll get into the clouds and dry up all the rain. Do not want."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI knew there had to be a good paranoia idea in there somewhere!
Yes, we do need to watch what we do that we don't create a monster. Part of the challenge to those involves will be to pick a catalyst that is cheap but not too omnipresent in lakes.
nailbender - It might first incorporate the entire K-T boundary in the process of converting the watershed to highly volatile substances...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat is the point of using bit.ly? That is a completely useless step.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe article has a DOI that is plainly printed. 10.1038/nnano.2010.57
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.57 is all you need to make a link that will LAST. DOI's are permanent reference numbers and maintained by the publishers. When the URL changes, it is updated.
How long till the bit.ly link breaks?
"Then, by combining the two gases and igniting them with a spark, the instructor changes the gases back into water with a loud pop" http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071031125457.htm
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Then, by combining the two gases and igniting them with a spark, the instructor changes the gases back into water with a loud pop" http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071031125457.htm
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiszehranasif...the loud pop was when using electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen...ps..thanks for the link.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi can't tell if this article is an update on the work done back in 2007 or just a rehash....
Ice 9. Or, it's equivalent. We are all doomed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy can't I open the website in the article...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAre you all able to open this"http://bit.ly/aP4HCN"?
It is a wise idea, I really want to see the research work
Flyazure...you might need to create an account on nature...what follows is the abstract...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOver several billion years, cyanobacteria and plants have evolved highly organized photosynthetic systems to shuttle both electronic and chemical species for the efficient oxidation of water1. In a similar manner to reaction centres in natural photosystems, molecular2 and metal oxide3 catalysts have been used to photochemically oxidize water. However, the various approaches involving the molecular design of ligands4, surface modification5 and immobilization6, 7 still have limitations in terms of catalytic efficiency and sustainability. Here, we demonstrate a biologically templated nanostructure for visible light-driven water oxidation that uses a genetically engineered M13 virus scaffold to mediate the co-assembly of zinc porphyrins (photosensitizer) and iridium oxide hydrosol clusters (catalyst). Porous polymer microgels are used as an immobilization matrix to improve the structural durability of the assembled nanostructures and to allow the materials to be recycled. Our results suggest that the biotemplated nanoscale assembly of functional components is a promising route to significantly improved photocatalytic water-splitting systems.