The Wilkins lab was involved in a just-published study tracking microbial populations and metabolisms in hydraulically fractured shales. The work – published yesterday in Nature Microbiology – identified dominant microbial populations that catalyze the conversion of methylamines into methane. While the detection of viable biomass in deep fractured shales may be problematic for the oil and gas industry, the potential for new biogenic methane to be generated could offer a potential mechanism for increasing the longevity of such wells.
