In Europe, conservationists are evaluating the use of living, self-repairing glue to help lower the region’s high costs of preserving historic buildings and monuments. The bacterial paste, being researched at Bath University, may be able to regenerate ancient stone, according to the European Commission. The university has shown that injecting bacterial spores into concrete can harden into calcite, which is helping repair old buildings.
More recently, a group called Geoheal, led by Cardiff University in Wales, is evaluating if similar products can be used in a more targeted manner for stone. “Stone and geological materials are by nature bioreceptive,” Michael Harbottle, professor of geoenvirnonmental engineering at Cardiff, told Horizon Magazine. “The bacteria we have used can happily live in such environments and lead to new mineral formation, as long as they have access to water, oxygen, and nutrients.” Early tests at Tintern Abbey in Monmouthshire, Wales, built in 1131, showed the paste did improve the structure without affecting appearance.
The technology could also one day be used to repair bridges.