Viral Battery

Nope, not Sci-Fi.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States have figured out a way to use viruses to build ultrathin lithium-ion batteries that pack three times the normal energy level for their weight and size, they said this week.

By manipulating genes inside the viruses, the scientists coaxed them into coating themselves with cobalt oxide molecules and gold particles and then lining themselves up to form tiny wires that serve as the anode electrode in a battery.

I get nervous when scientists start using life-forms or pseudo-life-forms to manipulate matter. I always get that creepy feeling that the virus will mutate and become the destroyer of worlds.

Kinda like worrying about Bacteria that eat styrafoam.

Doesn't this strike you as finding solutions that could be worse than the problem? I know it hasn't happened, but let's add a 'yet.'