In the hunt for ways to reduce lead poisoning, researchers in Natalie Farny's Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) lab are turning to some tiny worms with a taste for bacteria.
Farny, an associate professor in the Department of Biology and Biotechnology, has been awarded a$400,753 grant from the National Institutes of Health for early-stage research that will examine whether harmless bacteria could be put to work in the gastrointestinal tract of C. elegans nematodes to block the absorption of lead. The two-year project will focus on bacteria in a probiotic supplement that is used outside the United States.
“Most lead exposure occurs when humans ingest contaminated water, food, dust, or paint particles,” Farny said. “There is evidence that bacteria are good at sensing and responding to metals, so our idea is that a potential solution for people in high-risk environments, especially children, might be to consume a probiotic to protect against lead poisoning.”
Researchers led by Farny will focus their work on E. coli Nissle, a harmless bacteria used in probiotics that are sold outside the United States to treat gastrointestinal ailments such as diarrhea. They will test their ideas in C. elegans, a soil-dwelling worm that feeds on bacteria, measures about 1 millimeter in length, and is often used in genetic and neurological research as a model for more complex organisms.
The project will involve inserting code into the genes of E. coli Nissle so that the bacteria produce aptamers, which are strands of nucleic acids. The researchers will then feed the bacteria and lead to worms to determine if, in the worms’ guts, the bacteria will make aptamers that trap the lead for excretion.
