In 2021 I was approached by Professor Mike Manefield to create illustrations for some children’s books he had written about various microbiology topics.
Currently we are working on his story ‘Geo zaps his family’, which is a tale about Geobacter metallireducens, a very special species of anaerobic bacteria which can metabolise iron oxides for energy. The bacteria utilise electroconductive pili, which are long appendages capable of extracellularly transporting electrons from insoluble substrates at relatively long distances. This is a really neat ability because it also enables the microbes to transport electrons between individual cells within a population, which is known as Direct Interspecies Electron Transfer. The result is a electroconductive biofilm of Geobacter, which could have cool engineering applications when it comes to the generation of energy using bioreactors.
Mike has published a bunch of other very cool microbe-themed children’s books, which you can purchase on his website, Micronovo. He also co-founded the Joint Academic Microbiology Seminars (JAMS), which is a microbiology-based monthly seminar series – I would 100% recommend checking it out!
‘Geo Zaps His Family’ was edited by Lillian Webb, a freelance illustrator and designer. She also provides many useful design-resources on her website, such as an introductory how-to guide for book printing and book design.
