A shocking discovery has proven that bacteria can still maintain key life functions even after death. Even though cells disintegrate, enzymes are still free to copy genetic material into the environment, opening up many opportunities to create new materials and treat pollution.

A seemingly immutable biological boundary has just been broken in research published in the scientific journal Angewandte Chemie in August. Dr. Gabriel Antonio Minero and colleagues at Aarhus University have recorded a phenomenon that seems to only exist in works of fiction: bacteria after death continue to operate their DNA replication machines right in the middle of the natural environment.

For a long time, scientists have known that bacteria do not exist alone but often gather to form biofilms - microbial communities that secrete sticky mucus to fix their position. In the eyes of most researchers, these sticky substances are candidates for removal because they help pathogens adhere to surfaces.

However, Dr. Minero discovered that extracellular DNA is the core component that makes up this adhesive. Bacteria use their own genetic material outside the cell as a building mortar, a shield, and even an electron transmission tool for the respiratory process. Notably, this phenomenon is still silently taking place right in the human oral cavity if the teeth are not kept clean.

The secret of these "zombies" comes from bacteriophages - viruses that specialize in parasitic bacteria. Once invading, they can lie dormant as prephages in the host's genome. In the experiment on two bacterial strains Shewanella oneidensis and Bacillus subtilis, the authors actively cut off the bacteria's nutritional source. When sensing that the host is about to run out of life, the hibernating viruses immediately arise. Similar to the monsters in the movie Alien, they take control, force bacteria to create more copies of the virus and then break through the cell membrane to find new targets.

This cell burst releases into the biological membrane not only new virus particles but also a flood of DNA replication enzymes, along with all the amino acids and building blocks. Even though the host cell is completely dead, the released enzymes still continue the cycle of joining materials to synthesize new DNA. Just as Dr. Minero emphasized, life somehow still finds a way to continue after the death of bacteria.

To rule out the possibility that this amount of DNA was created before the cell burst, scientists added into the mix an artificial DNA segment carrying a fluorescence activation signal - something that never existed inside living bacteria. The results showed that free enzymes in the environment immediately took the new DNA sequence as a blueprint and diligently copied it like automatic machines. Under those conditions, B. subtilis enzymes create long DNA chains, while S. oneidensis enzymes create strange flower-shaped DNA building blocks.

It is worth mentioning that this phenomenon completely disappears in bacteria that are not infected with viruses. This observation led Dr. Minero to the conclusion that viruses are nano-architects that directly shape biofilms. Instead of a simple parasitic relationship, this may be a mutualistic evolutionary mechanism. Although the individual bacteria were destroyed, their sacrifice - similar to worker bees dying in the nest - left behind a solid biofilm that protected the remaining bacteria in the colony.

The greatest practical significance of this finding lies in the ability to master the process. The research team confirms that humans can completely intervene in "zombie factories" to control extracellular DNA to fold into specific structures called G-quadruplex.

These structural segments act as powerful chemical catalysts. Dr. Minero likens this to arming zombies, and opens up the prospect of accelerating the speed of industrial chemical reactions to optimize costs.

Currently, both S. oneidensis and B. subtilis are being applied in wastewater treatment processes. Taking advantage of this source of extracellular DNA is expected to improve treatment efficiency, open up the potential to recover carbon-neutral fuel as a by-product and deploy anti-pollution solutions on a large scale.

Although all industrial applications are still at the level of scientific hypotheses, a deep understanding of the operating mechanism of biofilms will certainly provide sharp weapons to help humans control and neutralize harmful bacterial membranes in the future.