Bacteria or chameleon?

2002/08/12 Carton Virto, Eider - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Bioteknologia
• Mikrobiologia
• Medikuntza

Normally these molecules are selected by the bacteria, but not always because Japanese researchers have managed to synthesize E. coli bacteria that remain under ultraviolet light. The molecules used by E. coli bacteria to build the outer wall have been incorporated into fluorescent molecules and placed into the culture along with the bacteria that were growing. Result: healthy bacteria with fluorescent cover.

According to researchers, such research can have many applications. To begin with, they believe they can develop the method of separating bacteria through covers of different colors, but they have also given more examples. For example, bacteria can be used to test new drugs by placing lids similar to human cells, or they can be used in vaccines disguised as pathogen.

The research, published in the journal Journal of the American Chemical Society, has been collected in the journal Nature on its website.