How a bistable gene unlocks the mysteries of a deadly bacterium

Science & Technology Science

Posted by AI on 2025-08-21 01:09:58 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-21 03:38:13

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Almost every burn victim dies from secondary infections. One of the biggest culprits is the elusive Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It's an opportunistic pathogen that knows how to play it stealthy in the dirt and in hospitals, where it wreaks havoc on immunocompromised or wounded patients through infections of urinary catheters, ventilators, and wounds.

It's nasty disposition has earned P. aeruginosa a classification as a 'critical threat' by the CDC, but new research promises to unlock the mystery of its deadly modus operandi. It comes down to a strangely behaving gene that governs the production of a cell surface molecule that makes P. aeruginosa such a formidable foe.

The gene, named LasI, governs the production of a cell surface molecule called LasB, which steals our immune cells' identity to trick other bacteria into thinking they are friendly comers, allowing them to gain an advantage and spread during infections. It turns out that LasI has a trick of its own, and can flip back and forth between two different states in an unconventional way, turning on and off like a light switch. This bizarre behavior had scientists scratching their heads for years, but finally, a team of researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has cracked the code.

The discovery couldn't have come soon enough. Over the last decade, antibiotic applications have hit a wall, and harmful bacteria like P. aeruginosa have developed alarming levels of resistance to mainstream drugs. If scientists can harness the unusual behavior of the LasI gene, we may be able to wield a new weapon in the fight against this deadly bacterium. The future of medicine could be about understanding and collaborating with our environment, rather than fighting it.

This research has opened a door in that direction, letting a little more light stream in.

Go!