Under anaerobic conditions, certain bacteria can produce electricity. This behavior can be exploited in microbial fuel cells, with a special focus on wastewater treatment schemes. A weak point is the dissatisfactory power density of the microbial cells. An unconventional solution is now presented by Singaporean and Chinese scientists: as reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, they coated live, electroactive bacteria with a conducting polymer and obtained a high-performance anode for microbial fuel cells.