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Name of Bacteria Used to Clean Up Oil Spills

Oil spills aren't just messes, they're critical dangers to wildlife and the general environment, and unfortunately, they are as difficult to clean up as they are destructive. The good news, at least, is that over the years scientists have been making strides in harnessing bioremediation agents, biological (at times genetically engineered) substances that break down or "eat" oil to help clean oil spills as quickly and safely as one can hope for. Some of the more well known bioremediation agents, when it comes to cleaning oil spills, are forms of bacteria, of which there are several.

  1. Genetically Engineered Pseudomonas

    • Perhaps the most well known "oil-eating bacteria" is the genetically engineered form of bacterium under the genus Psuedomonas developed by microbiologist Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty. Chakrabarty's creation gained national attention when a lawsuit against him by the US Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks went to the Supreme Court in 1980, arguing that no one should have the right ot patent an organism. The Supreme Court eventually ruled in favor of Chakrabarty. Chakrabarty's work again received public attention when forms of Pseudomonas bacterium helped to clean the notorious Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.

    Alcanivorax Borkumensis

    • Alcanivorax Borkumensis is a naturally occurring marine bacterium that relies on oil hydrocarbons as its only source of energy, so much so that while it's nearly undetectable in water of normal conditions, when the body of water becomes polluted in oil, Alcanivorax Borkumensis becomes ubiquitous. Scientists were able to map the genome of the Alcanivorax Borkumensis in 2006, a vital step in understanding the properties of the bacterium that some researchers have called a "fascinating and globally important bacterium."

    SpillRemed

    • SpillRemed is a commercial product developed by U.S. company Sarva Bio Remed as an oil spill clean-up solution. SpillRemed contains bacteria including Pseudonomas Psuedoalkaligenes and Phenylobacterium Immobile that break down oil into Carbon Dioxide and water. Once their job is complete, the bacteria simply die off from lack of sustenance. As of 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has included SpillRemed in its national contingency plan product schedule as a bioremedial agent.

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