100 year old time capsule could reveal evolution of bacteria

Way back in 1897, someone from the Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York City buried a time capsule stuffed with bacteria in one of the buildings cornerstones. It was lost for well over a century.

But in more recent years, New York University made plans to tear the building down and discovered the long-lost capsule in an architectural report. When the building was finally demolished, NYU bacteriologist Martin Blaser grabbed the tube and cracked it open.

The capsule contained bacterial spores of the strain Clostridium perfringens (although back then it was known as Bacillus aerogenes capsulatus). It’s still found on virtually all humans (this sample was taken from a 23 year old patient) and was once associated with gangrene.

Nowadays modern medicine, and especially the widespread use of antibiotics since the 1928 discovery of penicillin, has kept the microscopic critters at bay — outside of the odd bout of food poisoning. But that’s exactly what interests Blaser: have these microorganisms changed in the last 144 years?

“We’ve had 70 years of antibiotics, so the question is, have there been new changes in the bacterial genome from the time of that organism,” he told The Wall Street Journal.

The plan is to wake the bacterial spores up from their glass-encased slumber (bacteria can go into hibernation and survive for eons without moisture), culture them, extract the DNA and subject it to whole genome sequencing.

Then, by comparing the results to the DNA of more modern members of this species, Blaser and his team can determine if there have been any substantial changes in the genome. Blaser will begin investigating the bacterium’s DNA over the coming months. We’re looking forward to finding out what he discovers.

via 100 year old time capsule could reveal evolution of bacteria Wired UK.