Researchers at the new Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection in London have succeeded in creating a real-time video of the battle inside the body of a mouse as an infection takes hold. During a 11-day siege, the mouse's immune system tries to conquer a bug similar to E coli that infects humans. Spoiler alert: The mouse wins!
The team, led by Professor David Jolden of the Imperial College of London, modified a bacterium called "citrobacter rodentium" so that it could emit light. Then they infected the mouse. (PETA people, we know, we know. But what's done is done.)
A news release from the MRC quotes Professor Doreen Cantrell, Chair of the MRC’s Infections and Immunity Board, a saying: "There has been enormous progress in understanding the genetic and biochemical basis of bacterial virulence and host resistance in recent years but these diseases still kill millions of people every year. The MRC is committed to funding this extremely important area and to building on the successes already achieved by researchers at Imperial."
To view the video, click here: http://j.mp/OeAdip
