Engineered Virus Extracts Rare Earths from Water

A UC Berkeley team has developed a biological method to capture rare-earth elements (REEs) from aqueous waste using genetically engineered bacteriophages.
Researchers modified a harmless bacteriophage surface with two peptides: a lanthanide-binding motif that selectively binds REE ions and an elastin-like motif that responds to mild temperature changes. At ambient conditions the viruses act like a molecular sponge, binding REEs; a gentle warm-up triggers virus aggregation and settling, concentrating the metals. A final pH adjustment releases purified metal ions for collection.
The system was tested on acid mine drainage, where the engineered viruses preferentially attached to REE ions while ignoring competing metals. The particles proved reusable and can be mass-produced economically by propagating the phages in bacterial cultures, suggesting a low-energy, low-chemical footprint alternative to conventional solvent-based extraction.
Beyond mine wastewater, the platform could be adapted to recover REEs from electronic waste or to target other critical or toxic elements—lithium, cobalt, platinum-group metals, mercury, lead—with simple genetic retuning. Next steps include scaling and evaluating copper recovery, supported by NSF, DOE and industry partners.