BIOELECTRONIC STUDIES OF METALLIZED INTACT CELLS

THE COUPLING OF LIVING SYSTEMS, OR THEIR COMPONENTS, TO ELECTRODES IS OF RELEVANCE TO MANY AREAS OF TECHNOLOGY INCLUDING MICROELECTRONIC DEVICES, MOLECULAR SENSORS, AND THE BIOSYNTHESIS OF VALUABLE CHEMICALS. HOWEVER, BIOLOGICAL COMPONENTS ARE NOT READILY INCORPORATED INTO ACTUAL WORKING DEVICES AND THESE COMPONENTS OFTEN DISPLAY LOW STABILITY. RESEARCHERS ARE EXPLORING A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR ACHIEVING DIRECT ELECTRICAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE REDOX COMPONENTS OF LIVING SYSTEMS AND ELECTRODES. THEY ARE DEVELOPING A MEANS OF MAKING ELECTRICAL CONTACT TO THE INTRACELLULAR REDOX COMPONENTS OF INTACT CELLS WHICH OFFERS THE POSSIBILITY OF USING THE PROCESSING AND SENSORY ABILITIES OF LIVING SYSTEMS IN NEW WAYS. THE TECHNIQUE USES BIOLOGICAL COMPONENTS IMMOBILIZED CLOSE TO THEIR NATURAL STATE. TECHNIQUES FOR THE DEPOSITION OF THE ELECTRONICALLY CONDUCTING MATERIAL INSIDE INTACT CELLS ARE DESCRIBED. THE INVESTIGATION IS DETERMINING IF AN ELECTRONIC CONNECTION CAN BE MADE BETWEEN THE INTRACELLULAR REDOX COMPONENTS AND AN OUTSIDE CIRCUIT. EXPERIMENTS ARE BEING CONDUCTED ON A PHTOSYNTHETIC MICROORGANISM (I. E., THE BLUE GREEN ALGA, OR CYANOBACTERIUM, ANACYSTIS NIDULANS) FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS; (1) THE PHOTOSYNTHETIC REDOX APPARATUS IS ACTIVATED BY LIGHT, THEREFORE A CONVENIENT SYSTEM EXISTS FOR INITIATING ELECTRON FLOW; AND (2) INTACT CYANOBACTERIA CELLS AFE QUITE RUGGED AND THEIR PHOTOSYNTHETIC ELECTRON TRANSPORT ACTIVITY CAN BE MAINTAINED OVER LENGTHY PERIODS OF TIME.