Newly evolved "superworms" that feast on toxic waste could help cleanse polluted industrial land, a new study says. These hardcore heavy metal fans, unearthed at disused mining sites in England and Wales, devour lead, zinc, arsenic, and copper.
The earthworms excrete a slightly different version of the metals, making them easier for plants to suck up. Harvesting the plants would leave cleaner soil behind.
"These worms seem to be able to tolerate incredibly high concentrations of heavy metals, and the metals seem to be driving their evolution," said lead researcher Mark Hodson of the University of Reading in England. "If you took an earthworm from the back of your garden and put it in these soils, it would die," Hodson said.
DNA analysis of lead-tolerant worms living at Cwmystwyth, Wales, show they belong to a newly evolved species that has yet to be named, he said. Two other superworms, including an arsenic-munching population from southwest England, are also likely new to science, Hodson said.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Heavy Metal-Eating "Superworms" Unearthed in U.K.
National Geographic has a report on worms that can remediate sites polluted with heavy metals - Heavy Metal-Eating "Superworms" Unearthed in U.K..
Hmmm, "excrete a slightly different version of the metals, making them easier for plants to suck up" - no worries about dumbing down of science, then?
ReplyDeletemetal is power of all
ReplyDelete:-)
ReplyDeleteIt does get slightly better later on :
The toxicity of the metal particles once they have passed through the worms isn't yet known, since the protective protein wrappings will degrade over time, the study authors noted.
But experiments suggest the superworms make the metals easier for plants to extract from the soil, Hodson said.
"The earthworms don't necessarily render the metals less toxic, but they do seem to make them available for plant uptake," he said.
Is it a new species of worm... or have the symbiotic bacteria in the worms gut evolved?
ReplyDeleteThe "British Association Festival of Science" isn't "Nature".
Still. Interesting.
Well - no one has ever accused Peak Energy of trying to be reputable - the fringes are welcome here.
ReplyDeleteBut National Geographic is a fairly trustworthy source...
Perhaps a rename.
ReplyDeleteThe Institute of Peak Energy.
Calling yourself an "Institute" should immediately grant you reputable status! Just look at the IPA, they even get quoted in the noozpapers ;-)
Hmmm - The Institute of Peak Energy...
ReplyDeleteI like it...