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As a whole, our team’s current project is about reducing toxicity of the tailings ponds. One of the ways in which we plan to achieve this, is through the reduction of naturally existing heavy metals, into protein-bound nanoparticles. Doing so not only decontaminates the tailings ponds directly, but also indirectly aids in ensuring the viability of our cells when placed in situ. The gene we have implemented to perform this, codes for a protein known as Mms6. Mms6 is naturally found in Magnetospirilum magneticum strain AMB-1, and is known to reduce aqueous iron into nanoparticles of magnetite. These particles, when synthesized invivo, will align their respective bacteria with one another, under the influence of a magnetic field.
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