Particle catcher
If insects had horror movies, one of the scariest would feature tiny monsters. The grisly drama would spotlight the real-life threat to insects from young threadworms, smaller than eyelashes, and their symbiotic gut bacteria. The worms seek out and penetrate insect larvae. Inside the larvae, the worms release their gut bacteria, Photorhabdus luminescens, named for their mysterious glow. The bacteria take over, emitting a slew of toxic proteins that quickly kill the insect. The bacteria thrive on the insect cadaver. In turn, the worms feast on the multiplying bacteria, reproduce, and move on to the next larvae.
The setting would be a farm, because the worm and its bacteria are deployed as biological pest controls. But one of the bacteria’s toxic complexes has potential for medical use in …
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