mattbimbo Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 considering that 1ml of sea water contains up to 1x10^8 virus particles [ref], is it concievable that these particles can be filtered out and used for their nutritional value? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanJ Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 considering that 1ml of sea water contains up to 1x10^8 virus particles [ref][/url'], is it concievable that these particles can be filtered out and used for their nutritional value? I suppose but why make the effort? There are tonns of gold dissolved in the sea but its to much of a pain to extrct so its left there- why would we need to do this when there are more easily accessible sources of nutrients available? But the answer is probably yes it could be done. Cheers, Ryan Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbimbo Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 maybe viruses can be engineered to store the gold? would this be better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanJ Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 maybe viruses can be engineered to store the gold? would this be better? Its an interesting idea but again there are problems. 1) Viruses need living cells to reproduce. 2) How would you modify all those viruses to collect gold? The reason for the first is obvious - viruses are very target specific. Once modifiesd they would need to be introduced into a host so they can repproduce. The second is a bit harder. Out knowledge of genetic engineering is in its infancy, we would not yet have the ability to engineer a virus to do that. I can't really think of a lot of things that could be done with them that would even equalise the costs of extraction. Without meeting the costs of extraction it would be useless as an industry for one thing Also regarding the inital post - I think some people may object to the idea of eating burgers made form viruses Cheers, Ryan Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbimbo Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 well the protein content should be quite high, and for the vegans out there what could be better? haven't the aussies done a lot on gold-seeking and eating bacteria? the technology may be around the corner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 There are efforts underway to study the possible use of nanotechnology to mine the oceans for particulates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanJ Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 well the protein content should be quite high, and for the vegans out there what could be better? Oh I'd have no problem with it but you can bet some people would. haven't the aussies done a lot on gold-seeking and eating bacteria? the technology may be around the corner. Not shure about this at all, maybe they do. We don't really understand DNA to make any real big changes to it yet but we can do basic modifications such as making bacteria produce insulin. Maybe it is possible, maybe its not. We all have sole gold within us anyway - just not a lot Cheers, Ryan Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbimbo Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 So they look up Jonah the nanoprobe, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Also regarding the inital post - I think some people may object to the idea of eating burgers made form viruses This is where marketing steps up to the plate, as it were. Try new OINK*Burgers! Nutritious, Delicious and Vicious! * Obligate Intracellular Non-pathogenic Kreatures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbimbo Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 want to go into business anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbimbo Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 with drinkable water becoming such a dwindling resource in many parts of the world [ref], perhaps the economic pressure to extract resources from the ocean, including water itself, will become more significant than we can presently imagine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 Oh I'd have no problem with it but you can bet some people would. Not shure about this at all' date=' maybe they do. We don't really understand DNA to make any real big changes to it yet but we can do basic modifications such as making bacteria produce insulin. Maybe it is possible, maybe its not. We all have sole gold within us anyway - just not a lot Cheers, Ryan Jones[/quote'] Yea... I have no real idea as to where I would start to make a bacterium that would sequester gold. but, if there is another organism doing this already, its just a matter of mimmicking it, which is much easier. gold is an element, so receptors wouldn't have to be that complicated. I would think that its feasible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 with drinkable water becoming such a dwindling resource in many parts of the world [ref],[/url'] perhaps the economic pressure to extract resources from the ocean, including water itself, will become more significant than we can presently imagine? Distilling fresh water from seawater is already in practice in a lot of places, as far as I know. It's just more difficult to do on a large scale than is practical, most of the time. I don't doubt mining seawater for minerals will become feasible in the not-too-distant future, but I seriously doubt it will utilize viruses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanJ Posted April 2, 2006 Share Posted April 2, 2006 Distilling fresh water from seawater is already in practice in a lot of places, as far as I know. It's just more difficult to do on a large scale than is practical, most of the time. I don't doubt mining seawater for minerals will become feasible in the not-too-distant future, but I seriously doubt it will utilize viruses. I agree with that. The only time they would ever try to extract say gold from sea water would be if the supplies on the land ran out. Seeing as that will not happen soon we don't have a lot of hope for seeing this. Cheers, Ryan Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now