New Atlas: The diverse microbes that live in our gut keep turning up new surprises. In recent years this tiny ecosystem has been found to influence our health in some pretty profound ways, and different species have been implicated in all kinds of diseases throughout the body. But now researchers at UC Berkeley have found that some species of gut-dwelling bacteria can generate electricity.
Electric bacteria have been known about for quite a while, but this is the first time they’ve been found in the human body. Normally, these little lightning bugs reside in lakes, soil, around hydrothermic vents and particularly in acidic environments. We’ve even put them to work helping us ferment cheese, yoghurt and alcohol, purify water, and make batteries.
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