• Question: How do you think advances in microbiology will be made?

    Asked by zaina to Amy, Karen, Sarah, Vijay, Will on 11 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Sarah Martin

      Sarah Martin answered on 11 Jun 2012:

      Hi again Zaina! And another great question, you’re really on a roll!
      Microbiology has changed a huge amount over the last 10 years, and I think it will continue changing. There are now many microorganisms of which we now know the genes, because their genomes have been sequenced. So now we know what their DNA looks like down to the very last detail. With that information, we can look at lots of detail how they work! For example, bacteria are single cells and don’t have a brain, but they still make lots of decisions by using their biochemistry! They follow food, they feel light and heat, they can tell if other bacteria are nearby… all just with biochemistry. That’s really exciting.
      The big change in future will be that we will use computers much more to understand how bacteria work, by creating pretend bacteria in computers and finding out using maths and engineering. Bacteria are also really helpful, and there are competitions for students to help make them even more helpful for things like detecting pollution and making medicines.
      Here’s a video invite to the competition this year (for which it’s already too late) – but there will be one each year, so check out the website and apply to take part when you’re old enough!!!

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUyrDSPJLJM

    • Photo: Amy Birch

      Amy Birch answered on 11 Jun 2012:

      Hi Zaina,
      I think a huge breakthrough in microbiology is the creation of synthetic cells. By creating cells from scratch it is possible to program them to do whatever you want! The hope is that they can be engineered to do things like digest waste safely, capture carbon dioxide or create new vaccines and fuels.

    • Photo: Karen Reed

      Karen Reed answered on 13 Jun 2012:

      Hiy zaina, I’ve recently heard that microbiologists are identifying lots of new antibiotic like compounds by sequencing the genome (all the DNA) in lots of different types of bacteria, including ones only recently identified that live at the bottom of the oceans and neat the hot vents in the oceans. They are then able to take the genes from these new antibiotics and put it into bacteria that are easier to grow in the lab (its hard to mimic the deap see hot vent conditions in a lab so those bacteria don’t grow well there) so they can produce new antibiotics. That will be pretty useful.

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