building the cell starting with the minimum/core set and adding on the extra desired functions, like chemical production
A new study led by bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego defines the core set of genes and functions that a bacterial cell needs to sustain life. The research, which answers the fundamental question of what minimum set of functions bacterial cells require to survive, could lead to new cell engineering approaches for E. coli and other microorganisms, the researchers said.
The findings are published online in the early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of August 10, 2015.
This core set of genes is “the smallest common denominator that microbes need to have to become functional,” said Bernhard Palsson, the Galetti Professor of Bioengineering at UC San Diego and corresponding author on the paper. “If the cell lacks any of the genes from this set, the cell can neither function nor survive.”
According to the researchers, these findings could open up new avenues for cell engineering applications. Consider, for example, the genetic engineering of microbes to make value-added chemicals. This engineering process is typically done by making changes to the genetic makeup of a cell, which can end up toying with the cell’s core genes and functions, resulting in a “sick” cell.
Rather than risk compromising the cell’s core genes and functions, a new engineering approach could involve building the cell starting with the core set and adding on the extra desired functions, like chemical production. The PNAS paper presents the minimum core components that are absolutely necessary to include in the blueprints of an engineered cell.
popsci summary https://archive.is/EPmOm
study https://archive.is/HWhs3