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The bacteria turning waste plastic into painkillers
How did E. coli become such an essential tool for scientists and will anything replace it?
Industrially, vats of genetically engineered E. coli act like living factories producing a variety of products from pharmaceuticals like insulin, vital for diabetes management, to various platform chemicals used to make fuels and solvents. E. coli's dominance stems from its role as a model organism for understanding general biological principles, says Thomas Silhavy, a professor of molecular biologist at Princeton University, who has been performing studies in the bacterium for about 50 years and has documented its history. Driving Dr Barstow's V. nat focus is he wants to see microbes used to tackle big sustainability challenges – from producing jet fuel from carbon dioxide and green electricity to mining rare earth metals.
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