Studying bacterial infections in real-time
SciLifeLab researcher Mikael Sellin runs a lab that tries to understand bacterial infections. They aim to do this through unusual methods like growing intestines and filming the bacteria attack.
For five years now, they have been using organoids to study what happens when gut bacteria, such as Salmonella and Shigella, attack the gut. Using microscopes and a thin layer of cultivated intestine, they are able to document what happens when the bacteria are added. For example, they have been able to film in real-time Salmonella bacteria locating their points of attack, thanks to the advanced microscope built by a colleague, Jens Eriksson.
“The Salmonella bacteria can swim around with help from ‘swimming fins’ known as flagella. When they reach the lining of the gut, they search over the surface, and when they find a weak spot they work their way in,” says Sellin in an interview with Uppsala University.
