Cracked concrete is a big problem, being both unsightly and dangerous. We’ve done a few scratch calculations and have come up with a fairly definitive figure for the amount spent worldwide on the problem each year: “A shitload”.
Well holes in concrete may soon be a distant memory, as English scientists are reporting the creation of a genetically engineered strain of bacteria (dubbed, hilariously, BacillaZilla) which they claim is able to thrive within holes in concrete, and then as they die create a mineral-rich pseudo-concrete as strong as the original.
You’ll no doubt have experienced the effects of cracked concrete: the potholes in roads that can dent a car’s wheel and screwup its suspension; the sidewalk holes big enough to swallow a child.
And how do the men and women of city and town government respond to these concrete afflictions? Generally by waiting a couple of years to see if the concrete will somehow repair itself, then waiting another couple of years so they can make it through an election cycle on budget, and finally by sending out a crack team of alcoholic workmen who will stand around for a few days drinking liquor from thermos flasks before finally dumping a few shovels of wet concrete on top of the problem and hoping it lasts for week so they can get their paycheck before being fired.
Well, no more: scientists at the University of Newcastle in England have announced their creation of BacillaFilla, a bacterium which they have genetically modified to be able to repair these concrete cracks and holes.
What happens is this. The bacteria have been genetically programed to thrive at the pH found in concrete. Once in there, they infiltrate throughout the tiniest cracks, proliferating until they reach a certain density. Then, they begin producing and excreting calcium carbonate. The bacteria are programed so that at this point they die, thus preventing any kind of horror-film scenario in which they cover all of our lovely parks and sports fields in concrete.
The calcium carbonate structure they produce is, researchers say, as strong as the concrete it heals. Don’t forget, limestone is also primarily a calcium carbonate stone.
We are very much into the idea of using GM bacteria for jobs like this, and for clearing oil spills, and producing pharmaceuticals, and..the list is endless.
In fact, the only “person” we can see who doesn’t benefit from this is Godzilla. Imagine it: as the big green guy is rampaging through Tokyo or New York, blowing holes in skyscrapers, he’s followed by a swarm of these little critters, sealing up all of his destructive work.
Poor Godzilla. Poor, unemployed Godzilla.
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Ohhhh! This smacks of asbestosis, killer bees and other similar wonders. Back then, they also said it was safe. What if BacillaFilla start eating pH in our skin, too?