"E. coli is used as a micro-factory: given the right instructions, it can be modified to rapidly produce hundreds of genes or specific proteins. It is the ideal workhorse: it is easy to grow, does not require much energy, or demand sophisticated living conditions.Even more crucial to scientists, it can be modified easily and replicates rapidly.One of the first successes the bacterium holds to its name is the production of human insulin. In the 1970s, scientists inserted the genes responsible for coding human insulin into the bacteria and were able to produce vast quantities of the hormone to treat diabetes.
Christopher Voigt, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has worked with E. coli to target cancer cells."You can think of these bacteria as being drug delivery vehicles," he said."We created a strain of E. coli that can specifically bond to a molecule that is present in most malignant cancer cells and is able to deliver a therapeutic agent to the specific cell." This work is now being continued by researchers in Berkeley who are testing the procedure in mouse models.
- More Here (via Loom)
Christopher Voigt, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has worked with E. coli to target cancer cells."You can think of these bacteria as being drug delivery vehicles," he said."We created a strain of E. coli that can specifically bond to a molecule that is present in most malignant cancer cells and is able to deliver a therapeutic agent to the specific cell." This work is now being continued by researchers in Berkeley who are testing the procedure in mouse models.
- More Here (via Loom)
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