I've heard that the reason migrating birds are able to navigate is there is something in their brain that is drawn by the magnetism of the North Pole, but the thought of magnets in growing cells is very exciting.



"A University of Nevada, Las Vegas microbiologist says he and his team members have identified and cultivated a type of magnetic bacteria in Death Valley that could one day contribute to the biotech industry.

Researcher Dennis Bazylinski said the bacteria navigate along magnetic field lines because of the mineral produced inside their cells. His team is the first to isolate a rarely-studied type that produces the mineral greigite and is found 280 feet below sea level in the valley's Badwater Basin.

The greigite may have different uses in drug delivery and medical imaging than the minerals found in other magnetic bacteria. More research can begin now that the scientists know how to grow the Death Valley bacteria."



Badwater Basin