Gut bacteria’s shocking secret: They produce electricity

To date, most electricity-generating bacteria have come from weird environments, but researchers have found more than 100 in the human microbiome, both pathogenic and probiotic. They were unsuspected because they employ a different and simpler extracellular electron transfer system, which may prove useful in creating bacterial batteries. Their electrogenic ability may be important in infectivity, or in how they ferment cheese and yogurt.