Recombinant bacteria have altered DNA through genetic engineering, often using a vector like a plasmid or virus. Escherichia coli is commonly used for cloning experiments, and overexpression techniques are used to produce medically important proteins. Genetically modified bacteria can be used in bioremediation to break down pollutants and treat contaminated soil and waste in bioreactors.
Recombinant bacteria are bacteria that have undergone genetic engineering. This means that their DNA has been altered by the introduction of new DNA. Such bacteria have been of immense value in biological research and for industrial and environmental uses.
New DNA is often introduced into a kind of vehicle known as a vector. This can be a plasmid or a virus. The plasmid has a selectable type of marker, so that cells continue to produce it. Often it is antibiotic resistance. It is also possible to introduce a gene directly into the DNA of the bacterium.
Often when a new gene is cloned, it is expressed in a microorganism and often in bacteria. The laboratory mouse of the bacterial world is Escherichia coli, which is commonly found in our intestines. Many strains of E. coli are available for cloning experiments.
There are many cloning kits available that facilitate a high level of expression of the protein produced by a cloned gene in E. coli. This is known as overexpression. In basic research, such techniques help provide sufficient material to study the function and properties of the gene product.
Overexpression techniques in recombinant bacteria have been of great use to various industries. They have enabled the production of materials that are very difficult to isolate from natural sources. Furthermore, isolating the compounds from humans risks the spread of disease. Many medically important proteins have been commercially produced this way. Insulin, human growth hormone, and erythropoietin, an anti-anemia drug, are some examples.
Many other species of bacteria can be genetically modified. This includes those that can live in more extreme environmental conditions, such as polluted wastewater. Often the process of producing a chemical, or of degrading it, requires several chemical steps. Scientists have been able to engineer some recombinant bacteria with genes for entire pathways for the biosynthesis, or biodegradation, of compounds.
Genetically modified bacteria are finding use in bioremediation. This is the practice of using organisms to treat man-made pollution. For decades, bacteria and fungi have been used to treat wastewater and decontaminate water and soils steeped in organic pollutants. With the advent of genetic engineering, however, recombinant bacteria can be engineered to break down pollutants under conditions that unaffected microorganisms might find unfavourable.
Bacteria are particularly adept at absorbing toxic metals. The treatment of contaminated soil and solid waste generally takes place in a large tank known as a bioreactor. This is one way to contain the recombinant bacteria, so they don’t escape into the environment. It also facilitates the optimization of environmental conditions to those that favor the growth of bacteria. Furthermore, new strains of bacteria can be created to break down compounds that were previously very resistant to degradation.
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