César Torres and Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, both senior sustainability scientists, partnered with the Biodesign Institute's Jonathan Badalamenti to study the relationship of light-sensitive green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium and anode-respiring bacterium Geobacter and how the two generate electricity. These bacterium may help create clean energy from waste sources.
"When you put these two organisms together, you get both a light response and the ability to generate current," says Badalamenti.
The researchers hope their work will lead to more studies on microbial fuel cells like bacteria in order to create a more sustainably fueled future.