How These Bacteria Become Electrical Cables That Could Power Our World

Some species of bacteria, such as Shewanella and Geobacter can do what other species can’t: They can survive off of solely electrons. » Subscribe to Seeker! » Watch more Elements! Right now, there are bacteria deep in the ground and under the ocean that are acting as living electric cables, and scientists are coming up with new ways to study them and potentially use them. Some of these electron-transporting bacteria might not need anything but electrons to survive, and sure, every living thing needs a source of electrons to survive but the difference is that humans can’t (and shouldn’t) just lick an electrode for all the energy we need. But this isn’t the case for all bacteria. Both Shewanella and Geobacter species, for example, breathe rock. That’s right, they breathe rock. When oxygen is unavailable, these species use their pili, or the little electrically conductive ‘nanohairs’ to transport electrons to nearby rocks, putting their electr