title: Killing bacterial spores with blue light: when innate resistance meets the power of light.
abstract: This article is a highlight of the study by Maclean et al. in this issue of Photochemistry and Photobiology describing the sporicidal effects 405 nm visible light alone on endospores of the Clostridium and Bacillus genera. 1.73 kJ cm(-2) was capable of reducing endospore colony-forming units by up to 4-log(10). These findings have never been previously demonstrated and may be incorporated into decontamination methods that span medical, military and food preparatory applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Tyler G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: St Denis
authors.forename: Tianhong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hamblin
mesh_terms: D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000528:radiation effects*; D001410:Bacillus megaterium / Q000528:radiation effects*; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000528:radiation effects*