ORNL’s Adam Joss began adapting the gene-editing tool SAGE to modify microbes in graduate school. Today, SAGE is accelerating the design of custom microbeads for a variety of applications. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, US Department of Energy
A DNA-editing tool adapted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists makes engineering microbes for everything from bioenergy production to plastic recycling easier and faster.
Serine recombinase-assisted genome engineering, or the SAGE system, allows scientists to rapidly introduce and test new DNA designs in a variety of microorganisms. Engineered microbes hold promise for making biofuels, recycling mixed plastics, helping store soil carbon, and treating health disorders. Publication of the research in the journal Science advances.
“SAGE works in almost all microorganisms, and it’s revolutionizing what we can do with microbes,” said ORNL’s Adam Joss. Microbes were modified within a few days with SAGE, compared to the tailoring process that can take weeks using current methods.
Joss said the SAGE system can advance basic biology as well as bioengineering. “As a national laboratory, enabling science everywhere is part of our mission. SAGE is a tool that can accelerate the work of industry and academic researchers on the organisms that matter to them.”
more information:
Joshua R. Elmore et al, High-throughput genetic engineering of atypical, non-endothelial bacteria via site-specific replication genome integration, Science advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade1285
the quote: Wise Tool for Modifying Microbes (2023, March 28) Retrieved March 28, 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2023-03-wise-tool-microbes.html
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