Engineering Escherichia coli for Urease-Driven Synthesis of Metal Oxide Nanomaterials
Zong-Yen Wu, Alex Y. W. Lin, Isaak E. Müller, Zhiying Zhao, Nigel J. Mouncey, Peter Ercius, Yasuo Yoshikuni · 2026
Read Engineering Escherichia coli for Urease-Driven Synthesis of Metal Oxide Nanomaterials by Zong-Yen Wu, Alex Y. W. Lin, Isaak E. Müller, Zhiying Zhao, Nigel J. Mouncey, Peter Ercius, Yasuo Yoshikuni (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13288898.txt.
Description
Zong-Yen Wu and colleagues engineer gut bacteria to grow mineral nanomaterials in a 2026 study. Making metal oxide particles usually takes high heat, pressure, or harsh solvents. The team borrowed a urease gene cluster from a mineral-forming bacterium and placed it in E. coli. Urease raises local alkalinity, which coaxes dissolved minerals to crystallize. A gene delivery method called CRAGE-Duet installed the cluster.
The engineered strain produced calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate crystals as expected. Extending the recipe yielded hematite, an iron oxide, and anatase titanium dioxide particles. Microscope images confirmed the crystal forms and tiny sizes. Because growth happens in mild water, the process avoids furnace steps. The authors present E. coli as a flexible green factory for nanomaterials. Such particles serve medicine, electronics, energy, and cleanup technologies.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Zong-Yen Wu, Alex Y. W. Lin, Isaak E. Müller, Zhiying Zhao, Nigel J. Mouncey, Peter Ercius, Yasuo Yoshikuni |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 32 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |