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Robert
Boyle, Angels and Glowing Wounds
Jerry K Dzikowski,
Department of Biology, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska 68178, USA
Introduction
In 1672, the Oxford schol ar Robert Boyle, a founding member of the Royal
Society of London and considered the father of modern chemistry, wrote
about glowing spots on meat in his paper, ‘Some Observations about
Shining Flesh, Both of Veal and of Pullet’, which he presented to
the Royal Society, of London after quite an unorthodox path in its discovery.
He was settling in for the night, when one of the house staff informed
him of a startling find in the pantry. It turns out that some meat bought
from a country butcher the week before had developed more than twenty
luminous patches of varying brightness and size… The brightest spots
were to be found on the cartilaginous, tendinous and soft parts of the
bone. When it was picked up, the movement of the spinal cord in the neck
of veal caused it to shine even more, together with one of the tendons.
Boyle wrote, ‘They made a rather splendid show’. Its colour
was noted to be greenish blue. Upon further nightly inspections of the
pantry, only one pullet showed any similar glowing patches. Boyle made
several examinations of this meat. He used his famous vacuum pump in some
of the observations and concluded that the patches stopped glowing in
the absence of air. He also proceeded to eat the pullet, which he found
rather good which brings us to 2003 and my so-called ‘Angel Glow’
thesis.
The
Angel Glow Thesis
I am a biology major continuing in dental medicine at Creighton University
in the United States. In a discussion of wounds and injuries from World
War I with some Creighton medical students, I mentioned a story that I
thought l had heard about a particular incidence from World War I or perhaps
a war even before that The soldiers called it ‘Angel Glow’
or the work of angels, because they lacked medical knowledge or had no
other logical scientific explanation. I was not sure of the exact source
of the story, nor was I sure if, in fact, it was even during the First
World War. All I was sure about was that the phenomenon was observed by
soldiers in trenches or on a battlefield and that it had to be a war at
least before World War II, because medicine was not advanced enough to
offer a better explanation to the foot soldiers.
The
Oxford Answer
Curiosity got the better of me and, finding no conclusive explanation,
I took my enquiry online. I contacted Dr George Cherry at Oxford Wound
Institute. I explained the whole situation to him in a letter to the European
Tissue Repair Society’s Bulletin 9.3. Dr Cherry, in turn, asked
Oxford Professor Dr Terence J. Ryan to respond directly to my letter.
Here is what he said:
‘I have
not heard this story before. I wonder if there is any possibility that
the lighting used in trenches – which might have included halogen
lamps – could have included ultra-violet wavelengths? In such
a case, many of the agents applied to wounds would fluoresce –
for example, eosin and some of the other dyes like acriflavin. Anaerobic
organisms present in gangrene – Bacteroides melaninogenicus –
fluoresces red.
If anyone gives you a better answer, let me know!
With best wishes, Prof Terence J. Ryan’
In my quest to find
a source, even if just for myself, of the possible origin of this story,
I had opened a Pandora’s box of possible, yet not quite accurate,
explanations and open-ended possibilities. This in turn, whetted my appetite
even more and fuelled my hunger to dig deeper. I inadvertently became
a historical/biological archaeologist.
My enquiry to Dr George Cherry at the Oxford Wound Institute was published
in the ETRS Bulletin 9.3.
In introducing my letter it was written: ‘In the late 60s we described
the ultraviolet red fluorescence of Bacteroides mela-ninogenicus,
an anaerobe found in leg ulcers (Applied Microbiology, May 1969, 760–762).
Although Bacteroides melaninogenicus is present in wounds exposed
to the air, particularly dead tissue, we never associated this with healing.
However, in experimental studies we were unable to demonstrate any adverse
effect on healing per se and found that we could only grow this anaerobe
in avascular tissue.’
Having this fuel for my mind’s fire, I proceeded to discuss the
matter with a fellow student, Sarath C. Dhanan-jayan, who originally is
from India. Sarath, is a graduate biology’ student, who spends most
of his time on oncology’ experiments in the lab. In the past he
has worked with various bacteria and, as such, was familiar with Bacteroides
melaninogenicus. He threw out some possible theories as to the workings
of an ‘Angel Glow’ mechanism. In our brainstorming discussion
we worked on a process of logical steps by which the glowing bacteria
could indirectly help the healing of the wound in general. By being present
on the wound, the Bacteroides melanino-genicus, which itself does not
demonstrate any adverse effect on the healing of the wound because it
feeds on the dead tissue of the wound, creates competition for any other
micro-organism or bacteria present in the wound (competitive inhibition).
Bacteroides melaninogenicus, therefore, slows and eventually eliminates
the presence of other harmful organisms/bacteria in the wound, thus indirectly
‘healing’ the wound.
The above is one possible mechanism, albeit indirect, for the workings
of an ‘Angel Glow’ glowing bacteria wound-healing thesis.
However, if I am not mistaken, the bacterium glows or fluoresces red,
when exposed to ultraviolet light. This could eliminate the possibility
of the wound glowing by itself as I had originally heard through the grapevine.
It is still possible if, as Prof. Ryan mentioned, ‘the lighting
used in trenches – which might have included halogen lamps –
could have included ultra-violet wavelengths? In such a case, many of
the agents applied to wounds would fluoresce’, including even the
Bacteroides melaninogenicus if it was present on the dead tissue of the
wound. Sarath promised to find out more about Bacteroides melaninogenicus,
while I also thought of another possibility which I had observed in my
Microbial Biology class lab. Sometimes UV light itself kills some bacteria
that are exposed to the light. The wound would glow, due to healing agents
applied to it or due to the presence of Bacteroides melaninogenicus. The
UV light would then, in turn, kill the harmful bacteria present in the
wound, which would then by default, ‘heal’, poof and the ‘angelic’
light of UV would be the perceived supernatural source of the angels in
the ‘Angel Glow’ thesis.
All would he well and fine if not for a simple fact: we assume that somehow
under those early wartime conditions, ultraviolet light was present, but
it wasn’t. Without the light, the above Sarath-inspired theories
(together with the assistance of the Oxford Wound Institute) fall flat
on their faces, extinguishing any light of a possible explanation. If
we eliminate the light, as in the original explanation, then we have no
answer.
The
French Point of View
In the end I did find a better answer. In response to my letter published
in the ETRS Bulletin, I began receiving e-mails from around the world
about different types of wound healing. However, none of them had a possible
explanation for glowing wounds. That is why I was delighted to receive
Dr Christophe Beloin’s suggestion, from the Pasteur Institute in
France, of a bacterium called Photor-habdus luminescens.
Dr Christophe Beloin writes, the bacterium ‘is thought to be responsible
for “glowing wounds” observed during several wars’.
Perhaps this bacterium was even responsible for the glowing patches on
the meat that Robert Boyle had observed.
Dr Beloin’s investigations did not find any reports of such glowing
wounds, apart from the American Civil War. I had originally heard that,
as a by-product somehow of a self-glowing bacteria present in the wound,
maybe an antibiotic was produced, or even through the competitive elimination
of other bacteria by Photorhabdus luminescens, the wound had healed. These
last explanations, concerning the inclusion of Photorhabdus luminescens
in the ‘Angel Glow’ thesis, would be as close as possible
to the story I had originally heard. This is so because the original story
was that the glowing of the wound was itself caused by a bacterium, hence
Dr Christophe Beloin’s suggestion of the ‘glowing wounds’
bacterium of Photorhabdus luminescens. On the Pasteur Institute website
Photorhabdus luminescens is described as follows:
‘This insect pathogenic bacterium lives in symbiosis with a nematode
worm that is lodged in its stomach. When the worm has created small lesions
in the insect larvae, these are quickly killed by the bacterium. Photorhabdus
luminescens has a biotechnological value as it produces active toxins
against many insects, but also antibiotics and various enzymes In addition,
this microorganism is quite close to E. coli, and may contribute to the
study of this model bacterium.’
Furthermore, following Dr Christophe Beloin’s prompt, I found further
information about Glowing Wounds on the Science Netlinks website where
Bob Hirshon, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
writes for Science Update: ‘Many legends of our nation’s (USA)
history are just that – legends, with no basis in established fact.
But at least one Civil War legend may have just been upgraded in authenticity,
thanks to an idea from a seventeen-year-old high-school student, Bill
Martin. He and his family had heard some folklore about Civil War soldiers
with glow-in-the-dark wounds who appeared to have better survival rates
than soldiers with non-glowing wounds. Bill wondered if the subject of
his mother’s research – Photorhabdus luminescens, a bacteria
that glows – could have caused the glowing wounds. He and his friend,
Jonathan Curtis, performed research and experiments to find out if Photorhabdus
luminescens was present at Shiloh, a particular battlefield where the
glowing wounds were reported. Bill and Jonathan not only discovered that
the Photorhabdus luminescens bacteria was probably present at the battle
of Shiloh, but also found that it could indeed have grown on the bodies
of the wounded soldiers, since their body temperatures were lowered by
hypothermia (Photorhabdus luminescens does not grow at normal human body
temperature).’
Help
from High School Students
So we can see that the above article directly answers my original query
about Glowing Wounds or ‘Angel Glow’. Originally I had hypothesized,
based on what I bad heard through the grapevine, that the wounds glowed
by themselves, and afterwards had a better healing rate than non-glowing
wounds. In the above article, we read of the healing nature of the wounds
with Photorhabdus luminescens present; ‘The bacterium appears to
make an antibiotic that would have helped the soldiers’ wounds to
heal. The students are now working on identifying that compound.’
This could be due to Photorhabdus luminescens producing antibiotics and
various other enzymes, which would then, by default, kill other harmful
organisms present on the wound, healing the wound. Fascinating isn’t
it, a self-healing infection?
We can also see and imagine why in those early days of medicine, the soldiers
in the American Civil War, would attribute their glowing wounds to the
super-natural healing force of angels, hence ‘Angel Glow’.
Like their glowing halos, the angels would descend unto the soldiers a
miraculous glow of healing, directly onto their wounds. The wounds would
soon get better, possibly because of the antibiotic present as a by-product
of what Photorhab-dus luminescens released. Since P. luminescens is non
pathogenic to humans, we can theorize that by being present and multiplying
in the wounds it could have released its enzymes and/or antibiotics and
thus competitively inhibited the growth of other bacteria that are pathogenic
to humans. It did so in order to eliminate them from competing for the
same resources. P. luminescens may be competitively better suited for
the conditions of the wound thus growing faster than the other bacteria
present, and in so doing, also eliminating them. Furthermore, we can hypothesize
that as the soldiers got better, their body temperature would rise and
the remaining P. luminescens bacteria would be killed off.
This is what excites me about science and medicine, the ability to take
folklore and unexplainable results, and to give them perfectly logical
and feasible explanations. Moreover, the benefits and healing attributes
of such conditions could be experimentally repeated, extending their usefulness
to new generations, or helping to explain and aid further research in
healing.
Dr Beloin wrote to tell me that: ‘P. luminescens is normally non-pathogenic
to humans. Photorhabdus sp. is always associated with nematodes but Photorhabdus
sp. is not luminescent within the nematode. It is only luminescent when
at high concentration, i.e., in the stationary phase of growth in laboratory
conditions and at the end of the ‘bio-conversion’ of the insect
larvae. Some P. luminescens exist as pathogenic species to humans, but
they are not associated with nematodes and are only slightly luminescent.
They are probably transmitted to humans via another parasite or insect
(there are some cases where the infection was linked to a spider bite!).’
Furthermore, he wrote: ‘The pathogenic Photorhabdus sp. are from
the “Photorhabdus” genus, but they have been recently classified
as P. asymbiotica and not P. luminescens.’
An Australian group (Gerrard et al., 2003) has recently published a study
on P. luminescens bacteria infection of humans. In the abstract they write:
‘We report two Australian patients with soft tissue infections due
to Photor-habdus species. Recognized as important insect pathogens, Photorhabdis
sp. are bioluminescent gram-negative bacilli. Bacteria belonging to the
genus are emerging as a cause of both localized soft tissue and disseminated
infections in humans in the United States and Australia. The source of
infection in humans remains unknown.’ Dr John Gerrard is not convinced
that they are or were responsible for the glowing wounds. He thinks it
is just a myth.
Furthermore, Dr Beloin writes that, ‘No sample of “putative”
bacteria present in glowing wounds has ever been taken so it is impossible
to verify that Photorhabdus sp. was effectively present in these glowing
wounds. If Photor-habdus sp. was responsible for the glowing wounds and
helped to heal the wounds, they were probably not pathogenic to humans
so consequently they must be associated with nematodes. However, no description
of nematodes within the wounds has been reported. Well, it looks to me
that there is no clear proof that Photorhabdus sp. is the one responsible
for glowing wounds. Some people in the field even think that these glowing
wounds are just a myth! My point of view is that we will probably never
elucidate this question!!”
Future
Studies
I hope the above investigation can finally lead to the light, which is
shining at the end of the tunnel, no pun intended, with the final most
comprehensive explanation of ‘Angel Glow’. This semester at
Creighton University, Sarath and I plan to obtain a sample of Photorhabdus
luminescens from Dr David Clarke, an associate professor of microbiology
at the University of Bath, who is currently working with the bacteria.
He has heard of the anecdotal stories of glowing wounds during the Crimean
War, with Florence Nightingale. We then want to proceed with growing P.
luminescens in culture ourselves. Hopefully, we will also be able to observe
its bioluminescence. Unlike Boyle, we will not proceed to eat it. We will,
however, isolate some bacteria commonly found on human flesh wounds and
also proceed to grow them in culture. Finally, we will transfer a sample
of Photorhabdus luminescens onto the agar plate containing the flesh wound
bacteria. We expect to find that Photorhabdus luminescens will destroy
the other bacteria present on the agar plate, be it through competitive
indirect competition for nutrients or more directly as a result of an
inhibitory substance released by Photorhab-dus luminescens. If so, we
would then like to isolate and identify this substance. We suspect it
to be antibiotic in nature as is often found in inhibitory substances
secreted by yeasts, fungi and bacteria. I would then post the results
on a website hosted by Creighton University, under the name of ‘Angel
Glow’.
I only wish that Robert Boyle had come up with a simple formula, whereby
I would enter all the criteria in question, and it would spew out an answer,
to feed the appetite of my enquiring mind. It is of interest to note that
the glowing spots on the meat Boyle had observed were to be found on the
tendon as well as other tender parts of the meat. Overall, they were present
in places subject to the ‘injury’ of the butcher’s knife,
as if in wounds. Furthermore, the meat was stored in a pantry, which is
often much cooler than the rest of the house: cooler conditions that P.
luminescens might like.
Myth or no myth, 1672 or 2003, this little organism has given me something
to ponder. It only seems logical that we are interested in analysing this
organism further firsthand as it is quite unusual to see self-healing
infected wounds. Anyone with knowledge about common wounds will agree
with the fact that without the natural barrier of the skin, the wound
infections are prone to super- and secondary infections. So it makes this
little thesis of mine more interesting to dwell on, with a possibility
of coming up with some therapy that is novel and natural at the same time.
Further
Information
Gerrard JG, McNevin S, Alfredson D, Forgan-Smith R, Fraser N. Photorhabdus
species: bioluminescent bacteria as emerging human pathogens? Emerg Infect
Dis, 9: 251–4, 2003.
Myers MB, Cherry G, Bornside BB, Bornside GH. Ultraviolet red fluorescence
of Bacteroides melaninogenicus. Appl Microbiol, 17: 760–2, 1969.
www.pasteur.fr/actu/presse/com/dossiers/
Gbgenomics/GBgenphoto.html
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank, Dr Carol Zuegner, Assistant Professor
of Journalism at Creighton University for her proof-reading and correction
of the article. The author would also like to thank Sarath Dhananjayan,
Pre-Doctoral student in Oncology at Creighton University for help with
the project and article. Finally the author would also like to thank Dr
Philip Lister, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, at Creighton University
for his guidance in conducting the wet lab experiments.
This article is reproduced
from the Oxford Medical School Gazette (Vol. 54 [1]) with kind
permission.
Jerry Dzikowski is
a graduate student in Biology at
Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, USA
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