I am sure there are many organisms that dissolve metals, we can dissolve many in out mouths, that is why they "taste" to us. I am not sure however if it's the action of the enzymes contained in our mouth or if it's just the fact that the metals can be dissolved in water. If you put iron in your mouth you can readily taste it, but not Nobel metals.
Also, our stomach produce hydrochloric acid to dissolve or break down food so our bodies can absorb it, so there is that as well.
But there is also another thing happening with metal in our bodies. There are cells that live their entire life on the outside of our bones who's sole purpose is to deal with metal. The metal is Calcium, and even though it's an Alkaline metal, it's still a metal. These cells eat away the very top layer of our bones, and while they do so lay down a brand new layer, constantly renewing the calcium layer of our bones. As we grow older, they start to die off as most types of cells in our bodies do and they become less efficient leading to bone loss, etc. But even still, we have living in our bodies, cells that eat, breakdown, and finally produce new calcium layers on our bones that help keep our bones strong and healthy.
I understand the biological processes for bio-leaching metals that are not Nobel, used in industry to recover more metals from substrate than any mechanical process. I am sure there must be something for Nobel metals, it just has yet to be identified, or created. I honestly thought that's what this thread was going to be about. I never bothered to investigate the person posting before encouraging more information. I wish I would have now. When someone like this speaks on a subject like this one, they really make it all seem like it's no longer valid.
I am really curious about Bacteria and Archaea found at Iron Mountain Mine. I think it's really interesting that as a by-product they are producing sulfuric acid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Mountain_Mine
Excerpt:
The bacteria and archaea living in the mine such as Leptospirillum (bacteria) and Ferroplasma(archaea) and are of interest because they can survive in this extreme environment, and because their metabolism contributes to the pollution. They form a pink biofilm several millimeters thick that floats on the surface of the hot water with a pH of 0.8. Since the bacteria cannot be isolated and cultured, scientists have performed community sequencing of the DNA of the five dominant species at once, assembling the genomes afterwards. Four new species were identified in this way in 2004. In 2005 the proteins produced by these bacteria were identified; of the 2033 found proteins 572 were unique to this biofilm.[3] In 2006, Baker identified three novel archaea, the Archaeal Richmond Mine Acidophilic Nanoorganisms. [4]
The bacteria obtain carbon from the air's carbon dioxide and nitrogen from the air's N2 gas. They are aerobes and obtain energy by using oxygen to oxidize ferrous iron dissolved from the iron sulfide rock; in the process they produce sulfuric acid which releases more metals from the rock.[3] The bacteria belong to the group of acidophilic ferrous iron oxidizers.
There is also bacteria that can produce Nitric Acid
http://www.alken-murray.com/BioInfo2-03.htm
Excerpt:
Nitrifiers are fragile microorganisms which are sensitive to acid despite the fact that they produce acid during oxidation of ammonia and nitrite. If a large source of nitrogen is dumped into the environment, these organisms can potentially kill themselves by metabolizing it to nitric acid, unless pH is buffered with limestone or other slow-dissolving sources of alkalinity.
In our own bodies we have a beneficial bacteria that thrives in mildly acidic environments, and can actually produce acids, such as HCl. Our body uses HCl to digest food. Matter of fact, if we do not have enough HCl in our stomach, bacteria that is not good for us may flourish and cause any number of issues. Once issue is acid reflux. When there is not enough HCl in our systems, a specific type of bacteria flourishes instead of acidophilus, which causes lactic acid to build up, which in turn causes acid reflux. Oddly enough, the very bacteria that helps produce HCl and other acids in our digestive system, also likes..... YEAST....
Yeah I know, I am in no way supporting the garbage the original poster has submitted, I just thought that was an interesting turn of events.
http://user.xmission.com/~total/temple/Soapbox/Articles/brewersyeast.html
One of the most plentiful bacteria residing in the colon is acidophilus. The name literally means "acid loving". It has been found that acidophilus likes to live in a slightly acid environment, a healthy colon with a pH of 5.6pH to 6.9pH is such an environment. Acidophilus is known as a fermentative bacteria because it ferments specific carbohydrates, such as milk sugar, and secrete acids in the process. These acids help to maintain the acidity in the colon.
This is all just speculation on my part, but it is very interesting to me, and when I have time I might play around with it. But it's not in any way my focus. Currently I use only proven methods of recovery and refining. But I would like, if in the years to come I have time to do so, experiment with bacteria that can do similar things and can be kept and encouraged to grow in a safe environment.
I encourage certain types of bacteria to grow in my Salt Water Tanks so that nitrites are broken down into less harmful nitrates, and then finally I remove them from the water by exchanging water. I have other types of bacteria that do other things, but these for me, for my purpose, are the most important. I have been sending these bacteria to other Salt Water Aquarium enthusiasts for years so that they can seed their own tanks. It's a fairly common practice. I don't see any reason, logically or scientifically, why bacteria couldn't be cultivated for our purposes here on this forum, as well.
Scott
