Genetic engineering speeds development of new antibiotics

By hijacking the biosynthetic machinery of bacteria, scientists can create antibiotics. Genetic engineers at Stanford have inserted the largest working genes to date into the Escherichia coli bacterium, transforming this run-of-the- mill microbe into an organism that can churn out new precursors of erythromycin.

National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation

Contact:
Dawn Levy
dawnlevy@stanford.edu
650-725-1944
Stanford University

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