Dive Brief:

• A microbe previously developed to clean up nuclear waste has been improved, Michigan State University researchers announced.
• The microbe's pili, or hair-like appendages, were thickened to provide more protection.
• "The results surpassed our most optimistic predictions," MSU microbologiest Gemma Reguera told Science Daily.

Dive Insight:

The MSU research, published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, showed that strengthening the pili not only aided the microbes in cleaning up the waste, but also helped the microbes grow a film that helped them survive longer. "Even thin biofilms immobilized uranium like sponges. They reduced it to a mineral, all while not suffering any damage to themselves, for prolonged periods of time." Reguera said.