# Is there a type of camera/vision system that can see bacteria? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 24, 2010, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-type-of-camera-vision-system-that-can-see-bacteria/530247 "2010-02-24T09:26:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-type-of-camera-vision-system-that-can-see-bacteria/530247/1 "2010-02-24T09:26:08Z")
If you were an intelligent futuristic robot whose job is to sterilize things (like MO in Wall-E), what kind of visual system would you be equipped with? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-type-of-camera-vision-system-that-can-see-bacteria/530247/2 "2010-02-24T09:53:55Z")
> [@Dumbguy](#): > > If you were an intelligent futuristic robot whose job is to sterilize things (like MO in Wall-E), what kind of visual system would you be equipped with? You wouldn’t. Bacteria are too small to be effectively discerned through a visual system in the real world. They are too small and the real world is too chaotic. It is akin to looking for opossums in the Amazon from a satellite. If you scan the entire forest/wall you won;t be able to see anything that small. And by the time that you zoom in close enough to be able to see a single organism you are looking at such a small area that the odds of seeing what you want to see are pretty much nil. If it’s essential to be able to see bacteria with a visual system you need some sort of system to make them fluoresce or otherwise emit a unique signal. That way you can see them as points of light, which are much easier to see in a large area scan. For example you could potentially count car houselights in the Amazon using a satellite. There are various ways you can make bacteria fluoresce. In theory you could tailor your light source to various spectra and read the emissions directly. That system would be a bitch to calibrate but it could work. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-type-of-camera-vision-system-that-can-see-bacteria/530247/3 "2010-02-24T11:06:25Z")
There are home camera/microscopes you can hook to your PC. They can see bacteria. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-type-of-camera-vision-system-that-can-see-bacteria/530247/4 "2010-02-24T11:16:32Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > There are home camera/microscopes you can hook to your PC. > > They can see bacteria. On a wall? Can you post some images they have provided of bacteria on a wall? I’m finding this tough to believe because you need 100X oil immersion to be able to see the vast majority of bacteria even when they are in a broth culture, on a glass slide. The idea that a mass produced, domestic grade microscope can see them at all, much less on an opaque surface, is staggering. ---
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-type-of-camera-vision-system-that-can-see-bacteria/530247/5 "2010-02-24T11:42:21Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > If it’s essential to be able to see bacteria with a visual system you need some sort of system to make them fluoresce or otherwise emit a unique signal. That way you can see them as points of light, which are much easier to see in a large area scan. For example you could potentially count car houselights in the Amazon using a satellite. There are various ways you can make bacteria fluoresce. Cool idea. Can you give some examples of how to make bacteria flouresce? ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-type-of-camera-vision-system-that-can-see-bacteria/530247/6 "2010-02-24T12:43:37Z")
One thing to consider is do you care whether the bacteria or bacterial spores are actually viable? I do research in the area of biological decontamination and swab/wipe/vacuum sampling and plating into growth media is pretty much the current standard for determining whether a given area is contaminated or not. There is one spectroscopic technology that I know of, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), that can be used to identify bacteria. I believe it has more potential for identifying mystery powders than establishing clearance goals. Like a microscopic, it can only look at one small area at a time. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-type-of-camera-vision-system-that-can-see-bacteria/530247/7 "2010-02-24T12:57:52Z")
> [@Dumbguy](#): > > Cool idea. Can you give some examples of how to make bacteria flouresce? That requires genetic engineering – give the bacteria a gene from a jellyfish so that it produces glowing protein. Which isn’t something you should be doing to all of the bacteria in your home…