Question: Have you carried out an experiment today? If so, what was it?

Matthew Hurley answered on 15 Jun 2010:

No – at the moment I work three days per week and the others I look after my 6 month old son, now that mum has gone back to work. Work still goes on though and my samples should be with the analytical team. They’re using mass spectrometry (really sensitive, really expensive) equipment that can detect small molecules in small amounts. They’re looked for the signal molecule that bacteria produce to communicate to each other. Hopefully they’ll find that the bacteria that have been treated produce fewer signals!