Microsapers
Biologists will breed GM bacteria to search for minefields
Sergey Vasiliev, Naked Science
Raytheon Corporation announced the beginning of work on the creation of GM microbes capable of detecting the presence of explosives in the soil and signaling this by fluorescence.
Almost any modern war leaves behind a dangerous trail – mines hidden in the ground. Every year they – as a rule, anti–personnel - lead to the death of tens of thousands of random people. And even if there is no explosion, the mine rushes and disintegrates, explosives cause serious damage to the environment. The detection of long-forgotten minefields and explosives remains difficult, long, expensive and simply dangerous, stimulating the search for new technologies to solve this problem.
Scientists have already proposed using insects equipped with special sensors for this purpose. Now, by order of the American Defense Research Agency DARPA, a project has been launched to create GM bacteria capable of serving as living sensors for explosives. This is reported in a press release distributed by Raytheon Corporation. The project is being implemented with the support of microbiologists from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
We are talking about obtaining two new strains of bacteria. It is planned that one of them will be able to exist in oxygen-poor deep layers of the soil and in the presence of target substances will produce and release signaling molecules into the environment. Migrating to the surface, these molecules will serve as an incentive for a second GM strain, which in response to their appearance will create a signal convenient for detection: for example, fluoresce so that they can be noticed by drone cameras.
"It is already known that some bacteria can be 'reprogrammed' so that they become excellent explosive detectors," says Allison Taggart, head of the new program at Raytheon BBN Technologies, "but it is much more difficult to achieve this underground. We are studying how microbes can be brought to the right depth to then create a well-visible luminescence on the surface."
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