海角大神

Researchers from the University of Florida have discovered certain bacteria on the ocean floor could neutralize massive quantities of industrial carbon dioxide.

Because carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas emitted by human activity, is a key culprit in climate change, scientists from a variety of disciplines have been searching for ways to effectively capture and neutralize the gas.

The UF researchers discovered that an enzyme produced by the bacteria听Thiomicrospira crunogena,听can convert the harmful gas into a benign compound.听The enzyme carbonic anhydrase can actually strip carbon dioxide from organisms, .

Because this bacteria lives by hydrothermal vents, it has adapted to withstand the scalding temperatures involved in sequestering carbon dioxide from the power plant emissions.

鈥淭his little critter has evolved to deal with those extreme temperature and pressure problems. It has already adapted to some of the conditions it would face in an industrial setting,鈥� Robert McKenna, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the UF College of Medicine, said.

One catch to this solution is that this process needs copious amounts of carbonic anhydrase, but McKenna鈥檚 team discovered a way to obtain the enzyme without having to continuously scoop it up from the ocean floor.

Using a genetically engineered form of the E. coli bacteria, the enzyme can actually be harvested in a laboratory setting. So far, however, the researchers have only made a few milligrams of the carbonic anhydrase, and much more would be needed to put a dent in the atmosphere鈥檚 massive accumulation of carbon dioxide.

Another challenge the researchers face is speed: the enzyme the researchers studied does not work particularly fast.

鈥淵ou want it to do the reaction faster and more efficiently,鈥� said Avni Bhatt, a research assistant. 鈥淭he fact that it has such a high thermal stability makes it a good candidate for further study.鈥�

The UF researchers aren't the only scientists looking to the ocean for catalysts that can neutralize carbon dioxide.听Last month, 海角大神 reported on how tiny sea creatures may be acting as crucial carbon sinks:

After accounting for help from other underwater species, bryozoans are responsible for an increased carbon drawdown of about 2.9x106 tons per year 鈥� equivalent toof tropical rainforest. 'As sea ice is lost, more and more carbon will be buried in the sea, whereas the same is not true on land so the balance will be changing,' says [researcher David] Barnes.