Decontaminating Nebraska's Water Supplies with Uranium-peptide Bonding

In Nebraska, wells that the majority of the population rely on for their water needs have been tested, revealing that in over 26 towns in the state have uranium concentrations higher than federal standards. This uranium in the soil is natural, leftover from glacial and volcanic deposits, but the concentration of uranium oxide 〖UO〗_2^(2+) is increasing due to the frequent use of nitrate-based fertilizers. When ingested in amounts greater than the 30 micrograms per liter (the maximum recommended by WHO), uranium will cause kidney damage and possibly even cancer. Currently, there are two main forms of testing for uranium in a water supply, uranium mass-spectrometry and Gross Alpha Radiation. We propose a new type of test, using naturally occurring peptide chains that capture the Uranium atoms, making the peptide-uranium bonded molecule a biosensor for uranium. These peptides also have a use to remove uranium from within the human body after critical exposure to the toxic metal.