CINCINNATI, OH, Jan. 16, 2013 -- Synthetic biology company Bacterial Robotics announced that has secured a patent for its microscopic BactoBots(tm) technology.
The inventions within the "Microbial Fuel Cell" patent, No. 8,354,267, overcome certain challenges with traditional microbial fuel cells, which seek to generate electricity but fall short in both power density and robustness for industrial use.
The breakthroughs are due to the development of specific BactoBots, which can be thought of as organism-based programmable microscopic robots.
With this key patent in place, Bacterial Robotics' first subsidiary, Pilus Energy (http://PilusEnergy.com), is preparing to deploy the first waste-water-to-value BactoBots, known as RemediBots(tm) and GalvaniBots(tm).
RemediBots are added to wastewater with the goal of cleaning the wastewater and producing economically important gases or chemicals.
The GalvaniBot powers electrogenic bioreactors (EBR). An EBR can be considered a next generation microbial fuel cell. GalvaniBots operate metabolically. This is a different approach than fermentation, digestion, and other legacy technologies used in microbial fuel cells.
The un-optimized power density of a GalvaniBot-powered EBR reached five Watts per meter squared (5W/m2). The technology has very wide operating parameters including significant ranges of temperature and pH. The result is a robust, networkable EBR platform that harnesses the GalvaniBot to clean wastewater, generate usable electricity, and produce hydrogen gas.
The Company also announced patent filings for the RemediBot and GalvaniBot-powered EBR in a number of high-population global markets. Pilus Energy will provide the locally patented protected wastewater-to-value technologies to local market experts through its global licensing network.
The Company's consumable genetics rights management (GeRM(tm)) key system protects the BactoBots from release and theft. The GeRM keys must be present in the feedstock in order for the BactoBots to activate and conduct activities. If the GeRM keys are absent, the BactoBots self-destruct. This allows the local market licensees to offer BactoBots, EBR, and GeRM keys to their end-user customers.
Jason E. Barkeloo, Founder and CEO of Bacterial Robotics commented, "This recognized work is a keystone of our wastewater-to-value intellectual property portfolio. With this technology, Pilus Energy can help move the water-energy nexus industry toward a convergent turnkey water cleaning and value extraction solution."
In addition to what is claimed, the '267 patent also discloses additional inventions and applications of the technology. A continuation application claiming priority to the '267 patent was recently filed. This means the multiple inventions disclosed in the first application can now be pursued in subsequent patent applications. This enables the Company to expand the intellectual property portfolio to reflect advancements while providing increased protection of its platform technology disclosed in the '267 patent.
Barkeloo concluded, "This interdisciplinary team undertook a difficult challenge. Instead of finding lots of reasons why this invention could not be done, we concentrated on finding ways it could be done. The support of our intellectual property legal firms, specifically Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP, and the Nevrivy Patent Law Group were particularly helpful. And this historical marker was not achievable without the support of our visionary investors."
About Bacterial Robotics
An early developer in the emerging synthetic biology industry, Bacterial Robotics is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio (USA). The Company specializes in identifying markets for developing and deploying BactoBots(tm) and ViruBots(tm); microscopic organism-based robots that produce, build, sense, and perform functions.
For more information, visit http://bacterialrobotics.com.
