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Bioprospecting Tool Could Boost Critical Mineral Refining
By Anna Squires
Throughout the 1800s, naturalists journeyed to far-flung corners of the world to catalog birds, mammals, minerals, and plants. Now, a team of U.S. researchers is assembling a catalog of their own: an atlas of naturally occurring proteins capable of binding to rare earth elements.
Led by the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) and supported by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the creation of the first-ever Microbial Rare Earth Element Atlas could help address the list of 60 critical minerals identified by the United States Geological Survey as vital to the national economy but at risk of disrupted supply chains.
