Oneprojecttrappedlive E. coliinsidetinyhydrogelbeads.
The E. coliwerebioengineeredtoabsorbrareearthsfromelectronicwaste, whichcouldthenbeextractedbytheresearchers, andthebeadsthemselvesarereusable.
Anotherteamextractedandrefined a naturalproteinproduced, again, bybacteria.
Thatproteinextractsrareearthelementsfromelectronicwaste, andtheresearchersdeveloped a processforscoopingthatproteinbackupandgettingittoletgoofthewastethatit 'ate'.
I actuallygottomake a wholevideoaboutthatparticularproject, whichwe'velinkeddowninthecommentsifyouwanttoknowmore.