Novel optical tweezers instrument unravels bacterial DNA

VU Amsterdam researchers have developed an optical tweezers instrument, which they used to unravel bacterial chromosomes. The researchers, headed by Dr. Gijs Wuite, have demonstrated how an important protein, called H-NS, bridges DNA strands in bacteria. Thanks to this technology, it has now been proven that the seemingly chaotic cluster of bacterial DNA is in fact organized and can function dynamically. Moreover, the H-NS protein is a potential target for developing medication to treat bacterial infections.