Monday, March 3, 2014

Environmentally Safe Bacterium Effective Against Zebra Mussels

Zebra Mussels Photo from US Geological Survey
A biologist, Dr. Daniel P. Molloy, has found a way to kill zebra mussels using a bacterium that kills the mussels but apparently has little or no effect on other organisms.  Some of Dr. Molloy's research references Lake Carlos in Minnesota and included in the interesting NY Times article about his work (link below) is a video (less than a minute) showing zebra mussels floating in their larval veliger stage.

New York Times Article from February 24, 2014:
Science Takes on a Silent Invader
StarTribune Article from March 10, 2014:
Questions answered by Dr. Molloy

2 comments:

robert eggers said...

I don't think there is room for much excitement yet. The reference article states the product killed 90% of mussels in tanks. There is nothing to indicate it will eradicate the mussels in lakes.

CC White said...

You make a very good point Robert.
I came across an article from Daniel P. Molloy the research scientist at the University at Albany, State University of New York talked about in the New York Times. He clarified several questions raised in the article. http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/249354851.html