Bacterial Growth
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UQ Scientists Professor Alastair McEwan and Professor Jurg Keller are part of a team creating a new range of industries based on the power of bacteria.
They are part of the Environmental Biotechnology Cooperative Research Centre (EBCRC) launched in October 2003.
They hope to create diverse industries based on converting domestic and industrial waste into new products; ensuring safe water supplies for stock and humans, cleaning up toxic dumps, and creating long-life paint with living bacteria.
The EBCRC is a collaboration between the universities of Queensland, New South Wales, Macquarie and Murdoch and the South Australian Research and Development Institute.
It is supported by industry partners: Meat and Livestock Australia, the Australian Meat Producers Corporation, Orica and Collex.
The CRC is partnering the UN Environment Programme to become one of three top environmental biotechnology centres in the world.
The UQ researchers have identified a "smart, versatile" purple bacteria that looks promising for converting abattoir waste into products.
Another EBCRC project based at UQ aims to turn abattoir wastewater into fertilisers, using a mix of bacteria to convert the nutrients found in protein, fat and blood into phosphorus-rich compounds.
