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Fast-Growing Engineered Microbes: New Concerns for Gain-of-Function Research?
- Source :
- Frontiers in Genetics, Vol 9 (2018), Frontiers in Genetics
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Frontiers Media S.A., 2018.
-
Abstract
- Research on fast-growing microbes holds promise for many industrial applications, including shortening test and trial times in research and development stages and reducing the operation costs for production. Such microbes can be obtained either by selecting naturally occurring variants or via metabolic engineering approaches, either eliminating ‘unnecessary’ or adding necessary pathways affecting growth speed in the cell. Here, we review recent research and development of engineered fast-growing strains in industrial biotechology, with a special focus on vaccine production using (synthetic biology) engineered pathogenic strains. We will discuss whether this represents a security concern and whether the industrial biotech sector needs to pay more attention to issues of Gain-of-Function (GoF) while developing and harnessing these fast-growing microbes. We will also shed a light on the use of in-built biosafety circuits as a way to control the propagation of fast-growing strains, including their capacity to survive in the environment. Other possible GoF concerns raised by the publication of research results in this field will be also addressed. In conclusion, judging from the current development from the field, assessing the potential GoF risks on engineered fast-growing microbes does not lead to a clear generalized outcome. We argue that fast growing strains need to be evaluated in combination with their wild type and engineered characteristics, and require always a case-by-case assessment. Monitoring the progress of the field and proactively raising awareness on the GoF issues among the scientists are important for the further development of the field.
- Subjects :
- 2. Zero hunger
0301 basic medicine
lcsh:QH426-470
Computer science
030106 microbiology
Biosecurity
Review
Vaccine Production
vaccines
Mycoplasma pneumoniae
03 medical and health sciences
Synthetic biology
Biosafety
lcsh:Genetics
030104 developmental biology
Gain of function
fast-growing
Risk analysis (engineering)
Genetics
Molecular Medicine
synthetic biology
Genetics (clinical)
Growth speed
biosecurity
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 16648021
- Volume :
- 9
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Frontiers in Genetics
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....ae1f940ef516e2dae3eb28cfe27ec1f3