Glowing bugs help detect pollution

September 8, 2000
Web posted at: 11:33 AM EDT (1533 GMT)

LONDON (Reuters) -- Bacteria that glow are helping environmentalists detect and clean up contaminated land, a Scottish scientist said on Friday.

Much like canaries in mines that warned miners of carbon monoxide, the bacteria, or biosensors, are a simple and economical tool in cleaning up polluted land and water.

The bacteria light up, or bioluminesce, if the soil sample is clean but the lights go out in proportion to increasing contamination.

"This new technology is like a safety net that tells you if anything there is toxic," Dr Anne Glover, of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, told a science conference.

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Samples of land or water can be examined quickly in the laboratory where the glowing bugs will give an indication of the contamination of the soil in five to 10 minutes.

"It gives you an overall picture of toxicity. It's a plain yes or no answer," Glover said.

The glowing bugs are already being used by Remedios, a privately owned British company, to clean up industrial sites in Britain and Europe.

Glover and her colleagues developed the glowing bugs by inserting a gene into the bacteria that makes them glow. The bacteria not only detect pollution but also offer a clean-up strategy by quickly indicating how polluted the sample is.

A printout of the analysis of the sample indicates the contaminated area in bright red, making it easier to understand than a complicated chemical analysis, according to Glover.

"They are the Red Adair of the pollution world," she said, referring to the famous American oil fire-fighter.

As well as detecting contaminated soil, the technology is also being developed to reduce the number of animals used in testing programs for food, cosmetics and drugs.

It also has potential for use in portable kits to detect safe drinking water, Glover said.

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University of Aberdeen

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