Actually, Nanette is doing really well. Great job, wonderful boyfriend and tonight they are having a huge housewarming party with all their friends in their new lovely condo.
When asked what she does for a living, Nanette usually says that she is a gold digger. And it's not far from the truth. Nanette is a consultant with I-goo, the Belgian based market leader within re-composition. The company has developed a series of microorganisms that can decompose complex and toxic chemicals into simpler, harmless and recyclable substances. I-goo's microorganisms can also extract rare and precious metals from electronic scraps.
Nanette's job is to visit old dumps to check if the scraps there hold sufficient amounts of potentially valuable materials to justify a reclaim process. If so, she will negotiate with the local authorities for the rights to reclaim the area.
What Nanette especially likes about the job is that she can make a difference as far as the environment is concerned, while making good money at the same time. Any toxic waste area, a huge heavy-metal contaminated site, or an old dump loaded with electronic scrap is a potential threat to the environment. But re-composition technologies have turned them into veritable gold mines. The extraction of the world's last reserves of raw materials such as gold, platinum and other precious metals has grown extremely costly, the process of reclaiming them from old machines has become far more profitable - even if the amounts of precious metals used in former times in computer chips, screens, gauges, etc. is indeed very limited.
Admittedly, I-goo's technology is somewhat controversial, and not everybody is happy about it. The method was developed by Craig Venter, the American scientist who also decoded the human genome and subsequently moved forward to develop entirely new types of life. Venter's starting point was the simplest known living organism from which he systematically removed one gene at a time until he arrived at the smallest possible genetic material necessary to support a living organism.
That genetic code was sufficiently simple for Venter to synthesize complete artificial DNA by joining together the individual molecules.
Once they were able to control the genes, Venter and the scientists that came after him, could start tailoring entirely new organisms for very specific purposes - one of the first was a microorganism that can turn sludge into hydrogen, which can then be used in the power supply systems.
The Technology Is Alive
The process is called "re-composition". Nanette's company, I-goo has specialized in breaking down complex substances and composite materials - other companies work in the opposite direction, offering microorganisms that compose highly specialized materials from only a few simple elements.
Most new materials have been developed by combining biotechnology and nano-technology where the precision of the structures in question are measured in millionth of millimeters.
For instance, research has created "smart" materials that contain microscopic sensors and computer components as well as carbon fibers that are as light as a feather but stronger than steel. We have materials that can regenerate and repair themselves or change character depending on the light, temperature or load to which they are exposed.
These advanced materials are built from scratch, one molecule at a time. Rather than using an extremely precise machine assembling the molecules mechanically, it has proven much more efficient to develop small organisms - like bacteria - that can process the materials and produce exactly what's needen. You might say that these highly technological materials are "grown" in labs.
Compared to old-fashioned mechanical technologies, the major difference is that the "living" technologies are self-reproducing.
It is a very practical feature, but also risky. Many people fear that microorganisms will invade areas where they can do damage - but cannot be controlled.
Just like animals and plants can be attacked by rot, microorganisms might accidentally encroach on computers, machines or construction equipment gradually turning everything into an indeterminable gray mass.
Nanette has had these discussions innumerous times. When somebody tells her about their worries, she usually shows them a short video where I-goo's president, Jaan Schmadt explains how their microorganisms have been designed to only start reproducing if immerged in a special enzyme solution in the controlled environment of a lab.
As an additional precautionary measure, I-goo has developed a series of materials that are harmless to the environment, but which will instantaneously kill the organisms should they escape from the controlled environment. But - as Nanette usually adds - they have never yet needed to resort to these measures.