Methylkwik is a very toxic substance that accumulates in nature due to the burning of coal and illegal gold extraction. Fortunately, Australian scientists have now found a way to clean up the filthy mercury: genetically modified animals come to the rescue.
The Methylkwik not only ends up in nature, but also ends up in our food and therefore in our body. Reason enough to want to get it away.
Researchers from the Macquarie University In Sydney, therefore, the DNA of fruit flies and zebra fishing worked. They cut pieces from the hereditary material of bacteria and sticked these genes in the DNA of the animals. As a result, the fish and insects are able to convert Methylkwik into a less harmful gas that simply rises in the air. “It still feels like sorcery that we can use synthetic biology to break down the most harmful form of mercury and make it disappear as innocent gas from an animal,” says lead researcher Kate Tepper of Macquarie University, whose study In Nature appeared.
Why is Methylkwik so dangerous?
Methylkwik is so harmful because it can easily spread in an organism and the human body has a lot of trouble getting rid of it. It passes with ease through the walls of the digestive tract, easily crosses the blood-brain barrier and can even penetrate the body of the unborn child even through the placenta. Because it accumulates in the food chain, the substance disrupts, among other things, the effect of nerves and reproduction.
Problem disappears
Genetically modified fruit flies and zebra fish are able to create two enzymes that convert methylkwik into a less harmful form. The end product then leaves their bodies like a gas. “When we tested the adapted animals, we saw that they had less than half of the original amount of mercury in their bodies,” says Dr. Tepper. “Moreover, the mercury was that remained a form that is much less easy to be absorbed by other organisms.”
Safety and future prospects
According to team member Maselko, it is still too early to apply this technique outside the laboratory. “The research is still in an early phase and a lot of extra research is needed to be sure that it works well and is completely safe,” the scientist warns. The researchers have built in a number of security measures, so that the adapted animals cannot spread in nature unrestrained. They point out that strict rules are needed before the technology can really be used. But the hope is that the approach will lead to new methods in the foreseeable future to protect people, animals and plants against Methylkwik.
It is an important development, because the warming oceans there is more and more Methylkwik in particular fishing, such as cod and tuna, rightly.
What is Methylkwik?
Better said Methylkwik is monomethylkwik-kation. It is a toxic type of organic mercury that accumulates in the food chain. Pre -fishing at the top of the chain get the most mercury. Because we eat fish it also ends up in our body. Among other things, it increases the risk of heart attacks and can be harmful to unborn children.
