Deinococcus radiophilus (Syn .: Micrococcus radiophilus ) is a bacterium that is immuneto ionizing radiation . It has been found in the cooling water tanks of nuclear reactors and presumably utilizes materials and heavy metals ( plutonium , uranium ) that are there. It is strictly aerobic and therefore requires oxygen. After two megarads (20 kilograys ) of radiation , it was able torestore10,000 breaks in its DNA . In comparison, Escherichia coli can only repair 2 to 3 breaks in the DNA over the same period of time, and double-strand breaks also do not pose a major threat to the bacterium. It achieves these abilities via a highly customized repair system for its DNA. So far, experiments have been carried out with a genetically modified strain that could theoretically extract radioactive heavy metals such as uranium and plutonium from contaminated soils.
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Bill Bryson: A Brief History of Almost Everything . Goldmann, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-442-46071-7 .
