Glowing Wounds Will Signify Infection

Bacterial infections could be diagnosed in moments with the use of glowing polymers developed by British scientists. The designer molecules are made to identify bacteria, bind to it, and then change shape, causing them to emit light that would give the wound a glow that's discernible to the naked eye or under a fluorescent lamp.

Portable kits using the technology should be ready within three years, making the necessity to send a culture off to the lab, and wait days for the results, a thing of the past. The technology would be especially valuable in war zones, or for detecting superbugs and deliberate biological attacks. (More medical breakthrough stories.)