Remember the old days of Duracell, Energizers and Lithium-Ion rechargeable batteries? They’ve gone the way of vacuum tubes and DVDs. Now all you need is a hybrid electrolytic gel – squirt in a genetically modified virus – and hey, presto! You’ve got power to burn for weeks.

The beauty of these new nano-cell power packs is that they form billions of micro batteries inside any hollow cavity, even the casing of your Gpad or the grip of your LaserCue. So there’s no wasted space or materials.

And because the viruses actually construct the anodes and cathodes out of the hybrid gel, the electrolyte can lie there dormant for months, before being turned on; which means it’s always fresh and ready to light up your world when you really need it.

It’s like giving your gadget a booster shot, whenever it’s feeling run down. Give it a few minutes to take, and you’re up and humming again.

And toss out your power adapters and chargers too!

ANALYSIS >> SYNTHESIS: How this scenario came to be

Tomorrow’s Power Cells
The energy for tomorrow’s miniature electronic devices could come from tiny microbatteries about half the size of a human cell and built with viruses.

MIT engineers have developed a way to at once create and install such microbatteries – which could one day power a range of miniature devices, from labs-on-a-chip to implantable medical sensors – by stamping them onto a variety of surfaces, and then growing components with modified viruses.

Further, the technique itself “does not involve any expensive equipment, and is done at room temperature,” said Angela Belcher, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Engineering.

– from MIT News.