Using engineered bacteria and AI to sense and record environmental signals

Petri dishes of engineered and native Proteus mirabilis patterns, here stained with colored dyes used for the lab's bacterial art. Researchers in Biomedical Engineering Professor Tal Danino's lab were brainstorming several years ago about how they could engineer and apply naturally-pattern-forming bacteria. There are many bacteria species, such as Proteus mirabilis (P. These bacteria can sense several stimuli in nature and respond to these cues by "swarming"--a highly coordinated and rapid movement of bacteria powered by their flagella, a long, tail-like structure that causes a whip-like motion to help propel them. For inspiration, Danino's team at Columbia Engineering, which has a good deal of experience using synthetic biology methods to manipulate bacteria, discussed where else they might find similar patterns in nature and what their functions might be.