Patent ID: 6866995

Claim:
A method to enable the assessment of the growth rate and death rate of a micro-organism within a chosen time period in an environment of interest comprising introducing into said micro-organism at least two reporter genes, wherein a) said reporter genes code for luminescent and/or fluorescent products and within said time period and environment producing at least two said products of the following: i) a stable product produced in step (a), within the environment of interest, essentially known proportion to the total amount of cells if said microorganism that are or have been alive within said chosen time period, ii) a product present in said environment of interest in an essentially known proportion to the amount of cells alive at any moment within said chosen time period, and iii) a stable product produced in step (a), within the environment of interest, essentially known proportion to the total amount of cells of said micro organism that have died within said chosen time period, and said products can be measured through their luminescence and/or fluorescence; b) incubating said micro-organism within the environment of interest and detecting said luminescence and/or fluorescence after said chosen time period, and c) assessing the growth and death rate of the said micro-organism based on measuring at least two of the following: i) the known proportion of luminescence or fluorescence to the amount of cells alive after any said chosen time period, ii) the known proportion of luminescence or fluorescence to the total amount of cells that are or have been alive within any said chosen time period, and iii) the known proportion of luminescence or fluorescence to the total amount of cells that have died within any said chosen time period.