Artist’s illustration of bacteriophage viruses infecting a bacterium
Alexey Kotelnikov/Alamy
Gene-edited bacteriophages, or viruses that assault bacteria, can make probably harmful microbes in food and water glow so they’re simpler to detect.
In the United States and the United Kingdom, ingesting water should comprise no Escherichia coli bacteria, which can trigger food-poisoning. But strategies for testing water for such probably harmful bacteria are both time-consuming or don’t reliably detect low microbial concentrations. Sam Nugen at Cornell University in New York and his colleagues wished to make use of bacteriophages as organic nanobots …