A method of detecting one or more target bacterium cells present in a sample, the method comprising the steps of: (a) Mixing the sample with a plurality of transduction particles capable of binding to the one or more target bacterium cells, wherein the plurality of transduction particles are (i) engineered to include a nucleic acid molecule formulated to cause the one or more target bacterium cells to produce a plurality of reporter molecules suitable to generate a detectable luminescence signal, (ii) formulated to bind to and deliver the nucleic acid molecules into the one or more target bacterium cells, and (iii) non-replicative; (b) Maintaining the sample and the plurality of transduction particles under conditions sufficient to express the plurality of reporter molecules when the one or more target bacterium cells are present in the sample; (c) Receiving a plurality of signal data points, each associated with a quantity of the plurality of reporter molecules, wherein the plurality of signal data points are indicative of the presence of the one or more target bacterium cells in the sample; (d) Generating a first curve using the plurality of signal data points; (e) Analyzing the first curve by calculating the following parameters based on the first curve: Area Under Curve; Area Under Peak defined as the area under the peak within a predetermined time interval; Area Ratio; Global Maximum Intensity (globalmaxRLU) defined as the maximum luminescence signal over all time points; and Relative Variation (Rvar) defined as the sum of the absolute value differences between adjacent signals divided by the maximum luminescence of the entire signal; and (f) Comparing Area Ratio and Rvar and applying a linear threshold to identify a set of positive signal data points, wherein said set of positive signal data points reflect the presence of the one or more target bacterium cells in the sample, wherein Area Ratio = A2/AUC and wherein the linear threshold is A2AInt + Rvar ∗ A2ASlp, wherein A2AInt is an intercept of a threshold line for A2A vs. Rvar; Rvar is Rvar = ∑ i = 1 n − 1 nRLU i + 1 − nRLU i max RLU, if max RLU > 0 and A2ASlp is a slope of the threshold line for A2A vs. Rvar. (a) Mixing the sample with a plurality of transduction particles capable of binding to the one or more target bacterium cells, wherein the plurality of transduction particles are (i) engineered to include a nucleic acid molecule formulated to cause the one or more target bacterium cells to produce a plurality of reporter molecules suitable to generate a detectable luminescence signal, (ii) formulated to bind to and deliver the nucleic acid molecules into the one or more target bacterium cells, and (iii) non-replicative; (b) Maintaining the sample and the plurality of transduction particles under conditions sufficient to express the plurality of reporter molecules when the one or more target bacterium cells are present in the sample; (c) Receiving a plurality of signal data points, each associated with a quantity of the plurality of reporter molecules, wherein the plurality of signal data points are indicative of the presence of the one or more target bacterium cells in the sample; (d) Generating a first curve using the plurality of signal data points; (e) Analyzing the first curve by calculating the following parameters based on the first curve: Area Under Curve; Area Under Peak defined as the area under the peak within a predetermined time interval; Area Ratio; Global Maximum Intensity (globalmaxRLU) defined as the maximum luminescence signal over all time points; and Relative Variation (Rvar) defined as the sum of the absolute value differences between adjacent signals divided by the maximum luminescence of the entire signal; and (f) Comparing Area Ratio and Rvar and applying a linear threshold to identify a set of positive signal data points, wherein said set of positive signal data points reflect the presence of the one or more target bacterium cells in the sample, wherein Area Ratio = A2/AUC and wherein the linear threshold is A2AInt + Rvar ∗ A2ASlp, wherein A2AInt is an intercept of a threshold line for A2A vs. Rvar; Rvar is Rvar = ∑ i = 1 n − 1 nRLU i + 1 − nRLU i max RLU, if max RLU > 0 and A2ASlp is a slope of the threshold line for A2A vs. Rvar.