Much work is left to get the proteins producing the kind of silicon or titanium dioxides that could run a computer or power your house, but the dream is to have synthetic creations that organically produce what would normally need a mining expedition -- imagine something akin to the glass-like Venus' Flower Basket sponge (pictured above) sitting in an Intel factory.
But all that star power has so far been matched by the power of computer geeks who are using what they know best to keep the rhythmically challenged Silicon Valley icon in the game.