And the biotechnology doesn't stop there - not only can bacteria be used to identify contamination, they can also be used as an unpaid workforce to dispose of it. Every handful of soil contains millions of bugs that have the potential to dispose of contamination but which are living in the wrong environment to do so. They can be fooled into eating many of the toxins just by supplying the right nutrients. And while heavy metal contaminants can be a problem for bacteria, they pose no such problem for certain plants. This biological method of regenerating land is called bioremediation and has many benefits.
Diagnosis is rapid and the site can be cleaned up without interfering with site production.
Bioremediation is also sustainable and much cheaper than conventional methods of decontamination. Such a mix of chemistry, physics and biology means that such devices are a true application of biophysics.