BioBullets: Environmentally Friendly Method of Mussel Control
Filed in archive Diagnostics, Methodologies and Instrumentation , Energy, Environment and Ecology on February 3, 2006

For the last two decades, the zebra mussel, (Dreissena polymorpha), an invasive mollusk, has infested raw water cooling systems of power stations and water treatment works in the US, causing damages of approximately $1-5 billion per year. While chlorination can control the mollusk population, zebra mollusks are able to circumvent simple chlorination methods by closing their valves, and thereby avoid exposure for up to three weeks.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge, devised a novel method of control, called BioBullets: Potassium chloride (KCl) microencapsulated in microscopic edible particles that allow slow release of the toxic compound.
According to the authors of the article published in Environmental Science & Technology, aside from being more effective, BioBullets do not pose threat to other marine animals, nor do they pose a risk of polluting the wider ecosystem since the particles were designed to rapidly degrade and disperse in water.
Sources: ACS, EurekAlertPhoto: From the Environ. Sci. Technol. article, SEM of a freeze-fractured BioBullet to reveal a cubic KCl crystal within the vegetable oil matrix. Scale bar is 20 m.
Tags: pesticide environment biotech method friendly biobullets+environmentally method+mussel mussel+contro
Vote for BioBullets: Environmentally Friendly Method of Mussel Control:
|
Rating: 6.50 out of 4 vote(s) cast.
|
Most Popular
Best of
Biotech Hubs and Facilities
Biotech/Science Blogs
Corporate and Industrial News
Diagnostics, Methodologies and Instrumentation
Did you know
Drugs, Vaccines and Therapeutics
Energy, Environment and Ecology
Food and Agriculture
Gene Therapy
Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics
Information About
Meetings and Other Events
Microbiology
Misc
Nanomedicine
Other Biotechnology News
Patents and Intellectual Property Rights
Quick introduction
Stem Cells
