Algae that make metal-grabbing protein show promise for cleaning up toxic sediments, one of the most persistent problems in the Great Lakes, researchers said Monday. At another laboratory in Thunder Bay, Ontario, research is under way into methods for encapsulating the engineered algae for use in larger-scale tests and in gold mining. I don't want to give anybody the idea that we're ready to go out and clean everything up.
Practical application is probably a year away.
The algae at center stage in the research is cheap and common, Sayre said. It grows in Antarctica, it grows in the ocean. It naturally grows in soils in the back yard. It's called the cockroach of the algae world. Sayre's team, using funding from the Ohio Sea Grant marine research program, found that the genetically altered algae could be turned into heavy metal sponges, either living or freeze-dried.