Development of a Hyper-Accumulator System for Mercury Phytoremediation
Mercury is a very toxic heavy metal that is found in the environment as a result of
modern industrial activities and natural sources. In the US alone power plants release
about 48 tons of mercury per year to the environment, and recovering this would cost up
to 70,000 dollars per pound utilizing currently available technologies. Because of this,
new technologies are needed. In our laboratory, we use genetic engineering to change the
genetic makeup of plants to allow them to live in places with toxic levels of mercury and
other toxic compounds. The genetically modified plants that now contain genetic
material from bacteria and other organisms have the capacity to live in, uptake,
accumulate, and remove toxic mercury from the environment in a cheap and efficient
way. Plants are a good system for bioremediation because they can adapt to their
environment, are easy and cheap to grow, and can help contain disrupted ecosystems.