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Effects of Anaesthetics on Luminous Bacteria

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Abstract

LUMINOUS bacteria have been used extensively to study drug action1, although studies of general anaesthetics in such systems have been limited to the effects of pressure on the inhibition of luminescence by ether and chloroform2. The luminescent intensity, which is relatively easy to measure, provides a direct indication of the effect of drugs on certain cellular processes. We believed that the use of luminous bacteria as a model system would offer an insight into the action of anaesthetics without many of the complications which occur in general anaesthesia of mammals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford

    M. J. HALSEY & E. B. SMITH

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  1. M. J. HALSEY
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  2. E. B. SMITH
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HALSEY, M., SMITH, E. Effects of Anaesthetics on Luminous Bacteria. Nature 227, 1363–1365 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/2271363b0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2271363b0

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