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We might not be able to glow ourselves, but humans have harnessed bioluminescence for all kinds of practical purposes: medical imaging, genetic research, and even experimental cancer treatments. Soon, we might be able to add another: detecting bottles of wine at risk of spoiling.
Acetic acid, the chemical compound that gives vinegar its pungent taste and aroma, is a natural by-product of the fermentation process. If acetic acid levels get too high, fermentation grinds to a halt, resulting in a truly gnarly vintage.
Unfortunately, current tests for acetic acid concentration, like liquid chromatography, are slow, expensive, and otherwise inconvenient. Now, a team of researchers led by Yael Helman of Hebrew University in Israel has developed a clever early warning system for high acetic acid levels. They published their method in Microbial Biotechnology.
Read more: “The Neuroscience of Wine”
The team genetically engineered bacteria to express the firefly enzyme luciferase in the presence of acetic acid. When acetic acid is present, luciferase gets produced, and boom—let there be light. This living biosensor proved to be sensitive enough to allow an accurate measurement of acetic acid levels without sampling the liquid itself. Amazingly, it can even detect acetic acid vapors that tend to rise to the neck of the bottle, something sophisticated devices like electronic noses struggle with.
“This system allows us to detect acetic acid in real time, without complicated equipment or sample processing,” Helman explained in a statement.
And it’s not just for wine either. This novel method could be adapted to other industries that use fermentation, including biofuel production, and more. “It opens the door to affordable, on-site monitoring of fermentation quality and, in the future, may even support medical diagnostics based on volatile biomarkers,” Helman added. 
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Lead image: alia.kurianova / Shutterstock
