Microorganisms play an important role in the eco-friendly synthesis of metal nanoparticles. This study illustrates the synthesis of gold nanocubes using the bacterium Bacillus licheniformis after 48 h of incubation at room temperature. The morphology of the samples was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the particles formed were characterized to be nanocubes. The size of gold nanocubes in aqueous solution has been calculated using UV-Vis spectroscopy, XRD and SEM measurements. The nanoparticles are found to be polydisperse nanocubes in the size range 10-100 nm, (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.