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Kitchen Slime Could Be Our Unlikeliest Ally In Fighting Global Warming, Claim Scientists

Scientists look for carbon-trapping microbes in people's kitchens that can revolutionize our efforts towards climate change.
UPDATED NOV 19, 2024
A person holding the dishwasher door wide open. (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Olga Rolenko)
A person holding the dishwasher door wide open. (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Olga Rolenko)

In 2022, some scientists exploring the volcanic seeps off the coast of Vulcano, Sicily, Italy, found traces of a cyanobacterium now called “Chonkus.” Almost ten times larger than the average microbial cell, Chonkus was capable of making its own food by absorbing and trapping carbon dioxide, which are traits useful for decarbonization and bioproduction. Now, the group of scientists from the “Two Frontiers Project (2FP)” is on a quest to discover similar forms of bacteria lurking in interior spaces such as homes. According to CNN, the group anticipates that this carbon-trapping bacteria could reside in extreme and high-temperature places including dishwashers.

Woman looks at a glass taken out of the dishwasher. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Aqua Arts Studio)
Woman looks at a glass taken out of the dishwasher. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Aqua Arts Studio)

The team is so desperately hunting this microbe not merely for scientific curiosity, but to develop a solid solution to the exacerbating climate crisis: global warming. In April 2024, NOAA revealed that the current concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere “is the highest level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in at least 3 million years,” a major reason for concern. Discovery of this microbe would mean that it would be able to suck a lot of this carbon from the atmosphere and prevent Earth’s ecosystem from becoming overly heated. The team referred to this microbe as a variety of “extremophile microbe.”

Person holding a dirty air conditioner filter. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Uma Shankar Sharma)
Person holding a dirty air conditioner filter. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Uma Shankar Sharma)

“Extremophile microbes thrive in harsh environments and develop unique properties, which can be harnessed by the biotech industry and used in climate solutions,” Braden Tierney, the executive director of 2FP, told CNN. Apart from dishwashers, these extreme environments could look like air conditioners, microwaves, solar panels, water heaters and shower heads. “These environments, though common, mimic the extreme conditions found in nature,” Tierney said. “They reflect environmental changes that our planet may face in the future — including rising temperatures, heightened radiation and increased acidification of oceans and soils”

Backgrounds of Characteristics and Different shaped Colony of Bacteria and Mold growing on agar plates from Soil samples for education in Microbiology laboratory. (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Sin Hyu)
Backgrounds of characteristics and different-shaped colonies of bacteria and mold growing on agar plates from soil samples for education in a microbiology laboratory. (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Sin Hyu)

The project’s website prompts the registered volunteers to “look in and around your home for any signs of weird microbial growth (think slime, crusty mats, stringy growth), take a picture of it and answer a few questions about what you see.” Tierney explained that some areas of interest are “Unusual colors, smells, textures and other data” that can help them identify the microbe. After the volunteers send them the samples, the team will conduct DNA tests on the samples and record the observations in a catalog of extremophile microbes and carbon-capturing microorganisms.

Although microbial life is everywhere and is, in fact, the initiator of human life, the process of microbial carbon capture is something that acts as a protector for maintaining the planet’s heat balance. According to Science Direct, “carbon capture” and utilization is an approach to reduce the increased atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, leading to an eco-friendly and sustainable environment. Microorganisms trap atmospheric carbon dioxide to produce extracellular substances and for cell growth in the form of organic biomass doing bio fixation of the heat-trapping gas. “Microbes are a powerful tool in specific contexts, but they’re just one part of the larger solution,” Ara Katz, co-CEO of Seed Health, told CNN. “The urgency of the climate crisis means we must explore every possible approach.”

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