Attack of the nanoparticles This blobby E. coli bacterium was...

Attack of the nanoparticles

This blobby E. coli bacterium was being harassed by a gang of silver nanoparticles latching onto its membrane. Miguel Monge is trying to use these nanoparticles to fight bacteria, provide an alternative to antibiotics, and, as a result, avoid the resistance to antibiotics that bacteria develop. Monge, a lecturer in inorganic chemistry at the University of La Rioja, captured this transmission electron microscope image of the nanoparticles binding to and ultimately puncturing E. coli’s membrane. His project aims to fine-tune nanoparticle size and concentration to make them more useful in fighting bacteria. The nanoparticles that make up this swarm are about 5 nm in diameter.  — Manny Morone

Submitted by Miguel Monge. You can follow @_miguelmonge on Twitter.

Do science. Take pictures. Win money. Enter our photo contest here.

Click here to see more Chemistry in Pictures.