Platinum and palladium are highly sought-after noble metals that due to their low abundance have high value and because of their stability and their roles in catalytic processes are very desirable for industrial purposes. Bacteria are able to produce nanoparticles of platinum and palladium at low temperatures and from low concentration feedstocks contrary to chemical methods and so pose a potentially untapped ‘green’ resource for nanoparticle synthesis. We have used the bacterium Desulfovibrio alaskensis G20 to reduce Pt and Pd ions to zero-valent nanoparticle forms and used differential shotgun proteomics to identify proteins responsible for this reduction . There was found to be a core set of 13 proteins common to both datasets as well as 7 proteins specific to Pt and Pd individually. Over expression of one of Pt-specific genes; the NiFe hydrogenase small subunit, resulted in the formation of larger nanoparticles. For the first time the proteins involved in the metal reduction pathway have been pinpointed and it is our hope that these target genes can then be used for nanoparticle production to tailor specific properties for industrial purposes at the genetic level rather than post-production.