Micro-organisms may be turned into nano-circuitry

Micro-organisms commonly found floating in oceans might someday be reborn as components in incredibly complex computer circuits.
The single-celled algae, called diatoms, live in water and assemble a shell, or frustule, of silica by converting nutrients and light. They can adopt an incredible diversity of shapes – from simple geometric structures like triangles and squares to extremely complex 3D constructs with thousands of individual pores.
...Sandhage and his collaborators have so far devised a handful of ways to convert the silica encasing diatoms into other materials, some of which could prove electronically useful, such as titanium dioxide, which readily conducts electricity.
The researchers also outline two ways to alter the chemical structure of diatoms. The first is to modify the silica with a gaseous metal at temperatures up to 900°C – a method used to convert diatom shells into magnesium oxide and titanium dioxide structures. The second entails coating the micro-organisms with a solution and then dissolving the silica underneath. This has been used to create structures in zirconium. By combining the two techniques, the researchers were able to make nano-structures of barium titanate.