Research
Highlights...
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Biologist unleashes algae's potential. |
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| Number 54 |
May 1, 2000 |
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Berkeley
Lab maps way to swift completion of fly genome
When
Celera Genomics asked the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project
(BDGP) to join in completing the genome of the fruit fly in
record time [Science, 24 March 2000], one reason was
that the BDGP's major sequencing facility at Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory had already constructed extensive
maps of the location of specific DNA sequences on the fly's
chromosomes. Using a library of bacterial clones, Susan Celniker,
Roger Hoskins, and their colleagues assembled detailed maps
of the major chromosomes and produced a "rough draft" sequence,
which served as a check against Celera's whole-genome shotgun
sequence and is being used to close some of its 1,600 gaps.
[Paul Preuss,
510/486-6249,
paul_preuss@lbl.gov]
Gas-O-Mat-ic
While humans breathe
in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, plants do just the
opposite. Using plants to pull carbon dioxide out of exhaust
streams of power plants and convert it to useful products such
as oxygen may reduce the gas in the atmosphere. Chemical engineer
Tish Stoots at the DOE's Idaho
National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, collaborating
with the Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University
and the University of Memphis, is optimizing a mat of algae
to use carbon dioxide power plant emissions as a nutrient for
growth. Stoots also plans to increase the efficiency of the
mat's photosynthesis, to better stuff carbon dioxide into carbohydrates.
[Mary Beckman, 208/526-0061,
beckmt@inel.gov]
New science offers clues to artifact's origin
What happens to 3,000-year-old
bronze that has been buried for centuries? Knowledge of the
surface chemistry of ancient objects may provide clues to their
history and origin, and influence approaches to preservation.
Italian and British researchers recently worked with scientists
at DOE's Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory to view and understand the surface composition
of an ornamental fragment that likely originated in what is
now eastern Turkey. The first high-resolution images show the
surface has segregated into tin and copper regions. Surface
corrosion was minimized because the tin scavenges oxygen to
form a tin oxide that prevents it from corroding the copper.
[Susan Bauer,
509/375-2561,
susan.bauer@pnl.gov]
Quantum
computing leaps
Scientists at DOE's
Los Alamos National Laboratory recently made two experimental
leaps forward in quantum information processing. Using nuclear
magnetic resonance techniques, researchers created a seven-qubit
quantum register, or computer, within a single drop of liquid.
The development may someday lead to a functional quantum computer
capable of solving large mathematical problems or encrypting
secret codes at speeds far faster than today's supercomputers.
Other researchers demonstrated the use of entangled photons—twin
particles of light created by the same source but sharing identical
properties—for quantum cryptography. This advancement of
quantum encryption techniques offers heightened security against
eavesdropping of free-space communications, such as data transmissions
from earth stations to satellites.
[Kay
Roybal, 505/665-0582,
k_roybal@lanl.gov]
World's
smartest transistor
A "smart" transistor
takes advantage of a recent materials breakthrough, at DOE's
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in depositing a high-quality
film of barium titanate on germanium. Unlike a silicon transistor,
the field on the new transistor stays up or down all the time,
so no external power is needed unless the field must be flipped.
In addition, all the information in the "on" and "off" transistors
is retained even when the power is turned off. The new transistor
could pack in much more information than a silicon transistor,
making possible a low-power gigabyte chip that could serve as
the hard disk drive of a laptop computer and greatly extend battery
life.
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Biologist
unleashes the
energy potential of algae
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Michael
Seibert found a way to
"trick" algae to produce more hydrogen.
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About
60 years ago, researchers discovered
that not only could green algae split water, but it could release
hydrogen as a byproduct. This was an important discovery, since
hydrogen from water could help to meet future needs for a safe,
versatile form of renewable energy.
In the
decades since, scientists tried to discover how to cause the algae
to produce more hydrogen.
Enter
biologist Michael Seibert and his colleague, Maria Ghirardi, at
DOE's National Renewable Energy
Laboratory. In collaboration with Professor Tasios Melis of
the University of California at Berkeley, Seibert discovered a
new two-step process that shows promise for producing commercial
quantities of hydrogen from algae.
"We played a trick
on the organisms," Seibert said. "What is interesting is that
we are able to produce large amounts of hydrogen without imposing
all the expensive, mechanical or chemical processes used before."
Seibert and his team
found a "switch" that turns off the part of the algae's photosynthetic
apparatus, which splits water and releases oxygen. When that switch
is flipped, by withholding sulfur from the culture, that part
of photosynthesis stops over a daylong period.
"Now, the exact mechanism,
we're still working on," Seibert said, "but it may be a process
that uses storage product to produce the hydrogen. This will go
on for a couple days, but before it stops we re-add the sulfur.
At this point the cells recover, generate more storage product,
and then we remove sulfur again. The process repeats and more
hydrogen is produced."
Seibert, a biophysicist
and molecular biologist by training, has worked at NREL longer
than 22 years. Before that he conducted research for industry,
but left to pursue a career in renewable energy so that he could
help improve the energy outlook for the planet.
So, are algae the
future of hydrogen production? While remaining skeptically optimistic,
Seibert thinks that, "the two-stage process could well be a stepping
stone to a one-stage process."
Submitted
by DOE's National Renewable
Energy Laboratory
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