![Cryptococcus_neoformans_using_a_light_India_ink_staining_preparation_PHIL_3771_lores[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/1GMez6B.jpg "Cryptococcus_neoformans_using_a_light_India_ink_staining_preparation_PHIL_3771_lores[1].jpg")
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus
>Radiotrophic fungi are fungi which appear to use the pigment melanin to convert gamma radiation into chemical energy for growth.
>These were discovered in 1991 growing inside and around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine showed that three melanin-containing fungi — Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Wangiella dermatitidis, and Cryptococcus neoformans — increased in biomass and accumulated acetate faster in an environment in which the radiation level was 500 times higher than in the normal environment.
I have a question, why don't we just get a fucking bunch of this shit and put it all over Chernobyl to absorb all of the radiation out of the air to make the place habitable sooner?
>>8142733
It's a big planet, with an indigent species, they'll go somewhere else, everywhere else first.
they dont get rid of the radiation, they put a small blanket over it and use a tiny fraction of it
>>8142733
>absorb all of the radiation out of the air
Woman or biology major ?
>>8142733
>put it all over Chernobyl to absorb all of the radiation out of the air to make the place habitable sooner
Why?
>>8142983
If it worked that way, it's silly to ask why, it sets precedent for radioactive cleanup being possible AND is great PR because Chernobyl is the de facto fearful response to "why not nuclear?"
That being said, I fail to see how absorbing gamma radiation does anything to the irradiated material. It sounds more like a potential barrier to reduce gamma penetration. But I didn't read more than OP.
Because gamma ray photosynthesis isn't a novel mutation - it's a side effect of other genes. Most fungus can photosynthesize with gamma rays, and it didn't lie in wait for humanity to start producing them in a concentrated form - it evolved the capacity long before we existed.
Gamma ray photosynthesis is something that happens when the radiation exceeds a certain level. Chernobyl is covered in the black mold, and it concentrates in areas where the radiation is highest.
The levels of radionuclides in the global environment will increase, promoting the black mold. Nuclear industry represents the third chapter of life on Earth; The cyanobacteria; the oxygen catastrophe; the radionuclide catastrophe.
Bucky balls can capture radioactive atoms, and in doing so function as molecular RTG's. What would happen if you designed a new heme - one that contains plutonium, rather than iron?
It brings tears to my eyes to imagine our worst mistakes as the beginning of something greater than ourselves
>>8143048
isnt the cofactor just a catalysator molecule for a protein to become active? Do they consume the cofactor though?
I'm not OP but why could this protein not come from fungi then?
>>8142733
Because gamma radiation is a product of radioactive decay, so absorbing the product doesnt do anything to effect the rate of decay of the radioactive materials.
Furthermore, the gamma rays are already released and have to traverse a given distance before being, maybe absorbed by the mold. So you are in danger of exposure regardless of how much mold there is.
The only caveat to that, is IF you can get the mold to grow in high concentration directly on all of the gamma ray emitting sources. Then maybe you would absorb enough of the gamma rays, immediately upon their generation, to lower the background levels in the air. Good luck with that.
>>8143048
This isn't even close to a correct answer, anon. I have no idea what you are on about but there is no logical connection to make between the "novelty" of a mutation, or anything about the genetic underpinnings of the ability for that matter, and the physical reduction of radiation in the area.
>>8142792
loser or virgin?
