two researchers in a chemistry lab (IMAGE) Penn State Caption Penn State professor of chemistry Joseph Cotruvo, Jr. and graduate student Wonseok Choi have been researching ways to separate rare earth elements using reengineered bacterial proteins that are found in nature. Credit Michelle Bixby/Penn State Usage Restrictions Credit must be given to the creator. Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted. No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted. License CC BY-NC-ND Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.