What is it about?
Some species of sea sponges are able to create their own internal skeletons out of glass, by using an enzyme that can make mineralized glass structures. We engineered bacteria to produce and display these sea sponge enzymes. The engineered bacteria can create a thin layer of glass coating around themselves. These glass-coated bacteria are able to scatter and focus light into intense, bright beams, just like tiny microlenses.
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Photo by Stefan Cosma on Unsplash
Why is it important?
The beams of light that our glass-coated bacteria can create are very bright and are focused a few micrometers away from the cell, which could be useful for advanced microscopy applications to visualize objects that are too tiny to see otherwise. Our bacteria are also far smaller than typically produced microlenses, so that they could be used to produce sensing devices that are thinner or more flexible than are currently possible.
Perspectives
Our glass-coated bacteria remain alive for several months after they are encapsulated, which raises the possibility that they may be able to sense and respond to the environment.
Anne Meyer
University of Rochester
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Engineered bacteria that self-assemble bioglass polysilicate coatings display enhanced light focusing, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, December 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2409335121.
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