Tiny tuning fork could have medical applications

Science : Microscopic cantilevers may one day be used to identify and treat bacterial infections. Giovanni Longo and colleagues of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and the University of Lausanne in Switzerland have developed tiny, flexible bars that vibrate when immersed in a liquid bacterial growth medium, as the bacteria metabolize nutrients and create energy. Then the researchers added an antibiotic to see what effect it would have on the cantilever’s oscillations. When they added an antibiotic to which the bacteria were sensitive, the cantilever’s oscillations decreased, but when they added an antibiotic to which the bacteria were resistant, the cantilever’s oscillations slowed only temporarily and then returned to normal. Besides its potential use in prescribing antibiotics for human patients, the technique could also be used to detect life on other worlds, such as Mars.