Scientists genetically modify bacteria that is immune to ALL viruses

Scientists genetically modify bacteria that is immune to ALL viruses

Wonderful news for the industrial complex which exploit bacteria to produce everything from fermentation to highly profitable drugs.

When you genetically engineer a bacterium to naturally metabolize and exude a particular substance, exposure to an unexpected virus can render the process into abject failure... tainting the final product, or rendering it unusable for your purposes. Engineers have made great strides in keeping that from happening, protecting their merchandise, and thus their business.

Researchers have made stunning progress in genetic engineering and synthetic biology by modifying a strain of Escherichia coli bacteria to be immune to virtually all viral infections.

While the researchers cannot guarantee that no virus can ever infect this modified strain of E. coli, none of the many different types of viruses they tried was capable of breaching the bacteria.

The technology could reduce the threat of viral contamination when using bacteria as biofactories to produce useful substances like insulin and biofuels. In large vats of bacteria, viral infections can halt production, compromise drug safety, and incur costs of millions of dollars.

The study’s first author, Akos Nyerges, a research fellow in genetics in the lab of George Church in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, claims that the team has developed the first technology capable of designing an organism that is immune to any known virus.

Ok... so color me impressed. But why can't I shake the feeling that this could become a real problem... a tangible, threatening problem.

They are of course, making certain that we know of their efforts to protect this from getting into "the wild" as it is referred to - meaning anywhere but in the lab. The first method mentioned involved recoding and replacing genetic elements to produce incompatible substances in cells, should the transfer of genetic material occur.

When another organism comes across the modified E. coli and shares trickster tRNAs, the misreading of serine codons will damage or kill the receiving cell, preventing further spread.

“Any modified tRNAs that escape won’t get far because they are toxic to natural organisms,” said Nyerges.

Ahem..., does that mean that the exposure to this bacteria by any other organism could be lethal? Aren't "people" organisms? So the alarm should be sounded about them escaping when people start dying? Nah... that can't be correct.

The second method of safeguarding us all is a little something I recall relied upon as a plot point in a Jurassic Park film...

... The modified E. coli is 100% dependent on lab-made amino acids that are impossible to find in the wild. If the bacteria were to be taken out of the lab or biofactory and escape, they would die of hunger.

Ummm... Is this a bad time to say "life will find a way?" (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

I find this technology to fall under my personal heading "Watch this." It's not that I distrust their intent... only the that I know that as can frequently be stated of this technology... "Scientist don't actually know every goddamn thing."

But hey, maybe that's just me.

a reply to: Maxmars

It's not just you. Plenty of theories that's exactly how we wipe ourselves out, by discovering a new technology or treatment and begin using it without realizing the far-flung consequences.

Maybe Im not following along, but I'm always skeptical of any discovery that wipes out something Mother Nature intended for the world to have. Like bacteria

Throw in there are good bacteria and bad bacteria, and the constant battle is what strengthens our immune systems, simply if we screw around too much we will wind up having to live in plastic bubbles because we have no immune systems for whatever the environment throws at us.

Who knows maybe that is the master plan?

This is not good! Read it again with biological weapon in mind!
Rainbows
Jane

hell no. far from good, these scientists need to be shot, and all of their work completely destroyed. with the same done to all people trying to severely mess around with extremely dangerous things like this. hell we just had over two years of the entire world shut down because of such a thing, likely being accidentally released from a lab (i certainly hope, it was not done on purpose anyway), by scientists doing similar, but far less dangerous things. seriously you would think we would learn from our mistakes, especially rather recent mistakes that the entire world is still recovering from.

Yeah... this kind of evokes the 'heebie-jeebies' in me.

I get it the need for it... but I just can not trust the industrialization of the process... where commercial profit is the pinnacle of scientific effort, ... and people getting sick, is more of an afterthought.

Also, these are living organisms they are manipulating ... don't living organisms usually evolve over generations?

a reply to: Maxmars

What could possibly go wrong here?

a reply to: putnam6

I am with you on that. Mother Nature has been playing the game for over a couple thousand years. If there is one thing she is good at, it is survival. Plus she has a couple thousand more to straighten it out.

We don’t.

Nothing more beautiful than a land uninhabited by the presence of man. It was Eden before. Maybe to Eden it may return.