Bioluminescence and superbugs
10 May, 2012
Glow in the dark bacteria are a novel rapid screening technique for finding new drugs to combat superbugs.
Listen to audio: Bioluminescence and superbugs
Duration: 14:02
Microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles is developing bacteria that glow in the dark – bioluminescent bacteria – as a tool for assessing how well antibiotics and vaccines work against superbugs.
What is bioluminescence?
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. Most of the world’s bioluminescent organisms exist in the depths of the ocean. The best-known examples on land are glow-worms and fireflies. The purpose of bioluminescence is not fully understood in all organisms but uses include communication, attracting prey, camouflage and self-defence.
Using bioluminescent bacteria to study the effectiveness of drugs
Dr Wiles and the Bioluminescent Superbugs Group at the Auckland School of Medicine are using genes from bioluminescent organisms and inserting them into particular disease-causing bacteria. Because light travels through flesh, when they infect mice with the bacteria, they can study what happens inside the mice by tracking and measuring the light that is emitted.
Light is only emitted if the bacteria is alive, so they can find this out very quickly, saving time and money. They can also measure the amount of light emitted, which indicates the number of bacteria present. Normally, to test a potential new antibiotic, they infect the mice, administer the drug and wait for the mice to get sick. Using bioluminescent bacteria, they can see very quickly how many bacteria there are and stop the experiment much quicker, so there is less suffering, it takes less time and uses fewer animals.
Work wins Three Rs Award
Dr Wiles’s work won her the national Ethics Advisory Committee Three Rs Award last year. The Three Rs refer to:
- replacing live animal subjects in research
- reducing the number of animals used
- refining experiments to minimise harm or suffering.
Useful links
The Bioluminescence Superbugs Group
View an image of caterpillars with glowing bacteria in their guts on the research group’s website.
http://siouxsiewiles.blogspot.co.nz/
How bioluminescence works
Find out more about bioluminescence on the howstuffworks website.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/all-about-animals/bioluminescence.htm
Animals in research
Find out more about legislation and codes of conduct for using animals in research and the Three Rs programme, which is promoted in New Zealand.
www.biosecurity.govt.nz/regs/animal-welfare/research#threer
New Zealand research on light
Learn more about New Zealand research on light in the Light and Sight context on the Science Learning Hub.
www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Light-and-Sight/NZ-Research-Collection
Programme details: Our Changing World
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- 10 May 2012
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