Bacteria Have Eaten Giant Gulf Oil Plume, New Study Says

"The oil giant was interested in obtaining ethanol from cellulose, as well as other research."

And if you can find a natural bacteria? You make one...gene crafting. And if a barrel of this new strain were "accidentally" bumped into a certain gulf leak oil spill then...

But when this untested strain starts liking all carbon based lifeforms...

I realize that this is quite a paranoid rambling, partly as a joke, but when so much money is on the line...

Its so funny how all those environmentalists just can't turn this into a huge disaster. I love it, maybe we'll finally learn that we don't need to listen to them.

LIFT THE MORATORIUM!

That’s one of the reasons we were able to go out into the field immediately and start working on this. We had already set up whole teams to do these types of things for oil, Hazen said. There are no restrictions on us whatsoever in terms of what we’re seeing, in terms of anything that we do. We are a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory and those things wouldn’t be allowed.
-There are NO restrictions on them for what they do?! Does this imply that they are dropping more of these marine microorganisms into the plume?
--And stating that they are a Natl Lab and "those things would not be allowed?" What shoddy reporting is this?! Please explain what they think would not be allowed? Because as best as I can figure from this article, they feel they can do anything out there in the Gulf; adding whatever chemicals or genetically engineered organisms they want to experiment with!!!

WOW The great Oudini is back, once you see it the minute after it is gone. I am sooooo happy that such a magician is working on the case, I feel better now.

Let's start with some context:

Oil, in part, exists because organic growth millions of years ago when dead would fall down and collect. With no bacteria yet evolved to consume the dead matter, it would build up and the material eventually found it's way into the substrate of our planet's surface and became what we know as oil. It was only a few million years later that bacteria (& organisms) finally evolved to consume dead matter.

It's not ironic to me that eventually bacteria would eventually catch up to finish off the oil. Whether that bacteria evolves naturally or is engineered for the purpose of eating oil is inevitable. And how it affects the environment will be of little concern unless that bacteria find it's hungrier for alternate forms of carbon based matter... or happens to find its way into the oil still buried under ground. I imagine the latter being far more detrimental to the short term interests of manufacturing & consumer based economies/societies.

If anything, this strain of bacteria is more interesting to me in its capacity to consume hydrocarbons because the next logical food choice on the menu could be plastics. If that's the case or even remotely possible, then bacteria may very well be useful for not just eating up oil spills, but also plastic garbage patches the size of Texas floating around in our oceans. Which reminds me, why aren't we so worried about that?

Wow. How do we know these bacteria won't band together, become conscious and . . .and eat WHALES!

Thank you Rebecca Boyle for a detailed and balanced article. It's nice to know that there is hope that the impact of the disaster may be a little less than initially feared.

So I am going to have to get my car inoculated so this bacteria doesn't eat up my gas or motor oil or tires or windshield wiper blades?

@taysoren

Years ago, as a Corps of Engineers Officer, I had several opportunities to work with EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) folks. They were deadly serious on the job. Deadly serious. They had to be.

When the occasional accident occurred and the dust settled, they would account for everyone to make sure nobody had gotten hurt or killed. Inevitably, someone would say "Nobody got hurt? Good. Must not have been dangerous, then!"

It was a bit of irony. The words were used to mean the direct opposite of their literal meaning. It did not mean that what had happened wasn't dangerous. They clearly understood that what had happened was dangerous and that expression actually meant "We'd better do an AAR and find out what the hell went wrong and not let it happen again because it sure as h*ll WAS dangerous."

Your attitude, a common one, takes the same form, but misses the fact that just because "nobody got hurt" in this case does not mean it wasn't dangerous.

Now take your motivated social cognition, which helps you to fit in with your selected group of neo-conservative associates without fear of ostracism, and fence off an area for yourself where you can carelessly and obliviously crap on your environment to your heart's content and without fear that you will do any harm to yourself.

Using resources is fine and necessary. Abusing resources and damaging others is foolish in the extreme.

You might do well to learn about what Conservatives at the start of the 20th Century thought about the need to preserve nature as much as possible. You might find it interesting that a President by the name of Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, was chummy with John Muir. They shared one intense interest in common: Conservation.

So what happens if/when these microbes find their way into the oil wells?

@QIII,

There's a fundamental difference here. Explosives are inherently dangerous. There are no individuals looking at unexploded ordinance saying: "this isn't as bad as it looks." However, regarding this spill, there were many researchers indicating early that we were so fortunate this spill happened where it did.

Unfortunately, because of the neo-uber-liberal nonsense-crunching society we live in, no one would listen to them; oil, an already irrationally feared material, was leaking into the ocean... this was no time to be rational!!

The real problem is that next time this happens (and it WILL happen again) we will all freak out again, and villainize people, companies, and fluids. The neolibs are just as bad as the neocons. Neither side will look at something objectively. In billions of years, nothing has permanently ruined our planet. Including colliding space debris. Let's all calm down. In 10 years we'll laugh about this. In 100 years we'll laugh about global warming, too.

The worst thing that happened with this spill was the loss of 11 human lives. Let's be 100% clear on that. I'd dump a lot more oil in the Gulf if I thought it would bring them back.

@jake111

When that happens, electric cars will finally become economically feasible. No legislation required.

NOMNOMNOM!!!

@FlexGunship

Generally, it can be said that the unexpected explosion of C4 relative to a person can be fortunate with regard to where it happens.

If it happens at great distance, no harm.

If it happens close in, great harm.

You are correct. We were fortunate that it happened where it did. "Must not have been dangerous, then."

Move the same accident 50 miles north.

Still not dangerous?

Raw crude is inherently dangerous to delicate ecosystems. Will it destroy the world? No. Will it destroy a local ecosystem. Yes.