Intelligent bacteria for detecting disease
Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - 14:00
in Health & Medicine
Research teams have transformed bacteria into 'secret agents' that can give warning of a disease based solely on the presence of characteristic molecules in the urine or blood. To perform this feat, the researchers inserted the equivalent of a computer program into the DNA of the bacterial cells. The bacteria thus programmed detect the abnormal presence of glucose in the urine of diabetic patients. This work is the first step in the use of programmable cells for medical diagnosis.