Engineered Bacteria with Ultrasound

Genetic engineering: some important bacteria for health have been modified to make them visible to sound waves, like a submarine for sonar.

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Microbes like small submarines that can be located in the body: a group of scientists managed to create bacteria that reflect sound waves, and therefore visible inside the body with a simple ultrasound.
To date, there are techniques to visualize cells and microbes, for example using genes that make them fluorescent, but can be used on tissues removed from the body. For scientists, the goal is to have a "vehicle" (for example of medicines) that you can follow precisely the path, in addition to the fact that it would be possible to observe "live" the world of bacteria that swarm in the body , for example those of the intestine.

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FLOATING MICROBES

The group of researchers of the California Institute of Technology started from the observation, in some aquatic bacteria, of a particular structure, a vesicle full of gas, which contributes to their buoyancy.
The authors of the study had the idea of ​​exploiting this gas-filled bubble to reflect sound waves, and to differentiate cells and bacteria that contain it from other "normal" ones, making them visible.
Verified that the idea worked with aquatic microbes, the group has dedicated itself to engineering other types of bacteria present in the intestine of mammals and humans. The choice fell on a non-pathogenic strain of the bacterium Escherichia coli , and on another bacterium used in some experiments to carry anti-cancer drugs directly inside the tumors, the Salmonella typhimurium .

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After several attempts, the researchers were able to modify both to express the genes for the production of the gas vesicle. Subsequent experiments have shown that through an echolocation system it is possible to visualize these bacteria and their movements inside the intestine of mice.
"Our hope is that this technique will revolutionize cell visualization techniques," said Mikhail Shapiro, one of the authors. The ultimate aim is to use these bacteria as vehicles for the transport of pharmacological substances in specific points of the body, for example inside tumors, being able to follow precisely their path and their position. Furthermore, being able to visualize microbes accurately would be a key tool for studying live the world of intestinal bacteria, on which today the research interest is being focused on the role that these microorganisms play in health.

References for Further Reading

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