Professor Sylvia Daunert of the University of Kentucky is supported by the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program to continue work on a whole-cell bacteria-based sensing system. The project goals are two-fold: first, to make practical whole-cell sensors that are stable enough for storage and field use. The idea is to use lypohilization and/or spores in a microfluidic format on a compact-disc. Secondly, the PI will apply whole cells as sensors of signalling chemicals that cells use to "decide" things like antibiotic production, virulence and release of bioluminescence in a mode called "quorum sensing (QS)."
Intervention in bacteria signalling has been proposed as an alternative to traditional antibiotic therapy. This proposal spans the areas of chemical signalling, sensing, and complex systems, with an emphasis on cutting edge technology. Students, including those from Appalachia, are trained in this highly interdisciplinary approach to sensing, an area of national need in combatting terrorism.
