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Synthetic biology

Bacteria collaborate to sense arsenic

Nature volume 481, pages 33–34 (2012)Cite this article

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A method developed to allow rapid communication between bacterial cells across long distances enables the cells to detect arsenic collectively, and to report it as an oscillatory output. See Article p.39

Living cells can be exploited to sense and process environmental stimuli, including poorly defined microenvironments, biological markers of disease, defects in materials and complex small molecules. But obtaining a reliable signal from individual cells has proved a challenge. On page 39 of this issue, Prindle et al.1 report a solution to this problem: a sensor composed of millions of bacterial cells that communicate with each other over long distances (up to 2.4 centimetres). The cells respond to the presence of arsenic by altering the rate at which they produce synchronized pulses of fluorescence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Engineering, Christopher A. Voigt is in the Synthetic Biology Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.,

    Christopher A. Voigt

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  1. Christopher A. Voigt
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Correspondence to Christopher A. Voigt.

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Voigt, C. Bacteria collaborate to sense arsenic. Nature 481, 33–34 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/481033a

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