Bacteria on the seafloor grow their own electric cables — and they carry current almost like metal

Deep in seafloor mud, a family of microbes called cable bacteria survive by moving electrons across several centimetres of sediment — a distance about 10,000 times their own body length. A University of Antwerp team has now found how: the bacteria build metal-organic frameworks, sponge-like structures chemists prize in the lab, into bundles of tiny ribbons that conduct electricity nearly as well as metal. It is the first time any living thing has been found making these materials, the same signature shows up in about 90 related species, and the team is already exploring how to grow the wires for greener electronics.

SDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructure — Mechanism: tech innovation