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It may be that someday comes where at least some of your electricity could be generated by something you find on a salad.
The researchers fixed bacteria producing energy at the hat of a mushroom, lit up the subject and discovered that it was generating a small amount of electricity when it was collected by a nanotechnological scaffolding printed in 3D.
The co-author of the study, Sudeep Joshi, said that his team had the idea while they were having lunch in a Chinese restaurant.
"We ordered mushrooms and discussions … and then we came to our lab, started the experiments and the story follows," he told CTV News Channel on Friday.
The bacteria that they used to call cyanobacteria, which produce energy from light, like plants. Bio-engineers know that it is capable of generating small electrical discharges.
The problem is to keep it alive in artificial environments – but attaching it to a mushroom helps it survive longer.
"The mushroom is just there to support the cynobacteria," explained Joshi, explaining how the hybrid system made it all possible. "Cyanobacteria are the key player here to produce a current … (they) are the hero here."
Scientists shed light on the fungus and bacteria on photosynthesis and produced 65 nanoamperes. This current then pbaded through a 3D printed electronic ink containing graphene and captured in turn by scientists sensors.
The research, published Tuesday in the journal Nano Letters, was conducted by scientists at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Their goal is part of a larger effort to understand how biological machines can be modified, diverted and exploited by humans.
The next step in their research would be to determine how to ensure that the hybrid current illuminates a small lamp or LED lamp.
Joshi said that later, the hybrid cyanobacteria-mushroom could even be a source of renewable energy.
"We would like to go in that direction. It's just the beginning of such a bionic mushroom, "he said, adding it was one of the first functional blends of nanotechnology, fungi and bacteria.
"If we continue to push our limits, one day it will be a reality," said Joshi.
More on this story from CTVNews.ca
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