Gilmore says this discovery has several significant implications for the future. “This is a new mechanism that nature devised to ’see’ the environment, and based on that information, respond accordingly. We may be able to learn from nature and adapt a similar strategy to help the aging population cope with loss of vision,” says Gilmore.

“Secondly, this discovery will help us to develop new ways to treat infections that are resistant to antibiotics, making them less severe. Based on an understanding of how this toxin system works, we hope to develop toxin inhibitors,” says Gilmore.

The third area of interest is currently science fiction, says Gilmore. “If bacteria can see cells in the environment, maybe we can tame these bacteria and engineer this system so that it can be used to see other things in the environment, such as minerals or possibly other disease-causing bacteria,” says Gilmore.

Other members of the research team included Drs. Phillip Coburn, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Christopher Pillar, Schepens Eye Research Institute and Harvard Medical School, Wolfgang Haas, University of Rochester, and Bradley D. Jett, Oklahoma Baptist University. Dr. Michael S. Gilmore is presently Charles L. Schepens Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, and Marie and DeWalt Ankeny Director and Acting CEO of the Schepens Eye Research Institute.

Text for this article comes from a Schepens Eye Research Institute press release.