Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Looking for professionals to advise me on conducting a Quorum sensing experiment. Any ideas for complex but practical experiments that can be conducted in this topic by a 10th grader?

Hi yanaifeldman,

Have you chosen a specific strain of bacteria to work with? The kinds of experiments I am most familiar with are those in Vibrio fischeri. In this system the bacteria turn on luciferase genes when the population gets dense enough. So you can measure the amount of light they produce (luciferase activity) as an indirect measure of quorum sensing. Let me know what bacteria you are using and then I can help you come up with a great experiment.

Kierstyn