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micktalian t1_j1m41ba wrote

Iirc, there are actually plants which specifically pick up certain metals from soil to such a degree that the processed plant material can be used for refining. If we really went down the route of bioengineering we could probably "create" (or modify) a form of cytobacteria with the genes to process the target minerals into an "organic ore" which can be processed into usable material.

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ThePirateThief t1_j1n26h3 wrote

Thanks for mentioning this, definitely going to look into this further if only because the concept of "organic ore" plants sounds awesome to implement in my fantasy world building.

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ShutUpAndEatWithMe t1_j1nzoxd wrote

Cytobacteria? Or cyanobacteria?

Cyanobacteria can be cultivated in waste and sea waters and have been engineered to create loads of materials. They've also been cultivated in wastewater to take out excess nitrogen before processing. Other bacteria have been engineered to grab onto precious metals in industrial waste waters. There's a lot of promise but it's just a matter of 1) securing dependable funding, 2) managing organisms with recombinant DNA, and 3) translating lab results into the real world

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micktalian t1_j1o0o0t wrote

Not gona lie, my degree is is PoliSci, not Biology or Chemistry, so Im not the best when it comes to accurately using specific terminology. You are absolutely right, I did mean cyanobacteria, thats my bad.

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Personally, my goal is ensure that people much smarter than me have access to the funding they need so that they can properly manage their organisms/experiments and can work towards producing real world results. I may not be the person to figure any of this out, but I will certainly do what I can to support them.

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jjburroughs t1_j1p508j wrote

Most politicians distrust science. The general public does not understand science and why these things matter.

I agree that funding needs to be put towards this avenue of science. However, it isnt me who needs to be convinced. Its the public and the corporations that run and lobby everything.

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intellifone t1_j1rhtxo wrote

At some point we’re going to have to decide that we’re done studying a “pristine” Mars and that we want to transform it. Bio-engineered bacteria will be the way. We probably need to take a kitchen sink approach and engineer something that eats iron oxides and spews CO2 or Oxygen. We’ll also need something that eats perchlorate too. And then we just fly drones all around the planet dumping it out. We probably want to drop lots of activates carbon all over the poles to make them warmer.

I’m sure there will be quicker and easier terraforming methods in the future but we’re not there yet and if we never get there, these could at least make Mars less inhospitable.

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