SCIENTISTS
have programmed bacteria to “talk” to one
another and produce colour-coded patterns in a
study that paves the way for “biological
computers” and new ways of detecting biological
and chemical weapons.
The experiment in the United States shows
that living cells can be harnessed to perform
specialist tasks and could be exploited for
medical and civil defence technologies.
Bacteria or other
cells could be linked into networks that would
pick up traces of anthrax or chemical weapons,
or to build biological machines that repair
tissues or organs in the body, researchers said.
Ron Weiss led the study at the California
Institute of Technology. In the research, Dr
Weiss’s team took colonies of E. coli
bacteria and genetically engineered them to
produce green or red fluorescent proteins in
response to chemical signals released by other
bacteria. Details are published today in the
journal Nature.
The modified bacteria formed a “bull’s-eye”
pattern in response to the position of sender
cells that could be used to show the presence of
chemical agents, Dr Weiss said.
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