Lifetime chemical sensor arrays of organic fluorophores for bacterial fingerprinting

Nature Communications, Published online: 28 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-72342-7 Infections caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria present a global health challenge, so the identification of bacterial species is essential to avoid the unnecessary use of antibiotics and to minimize the emergence of additional resistance. Here, the authors present a lifetime cross-reactive sensor array that correctly assigned all seven ESKAPEE bacterial species by combining their optical signatures.