Team:Groningen/education/science behind 3 en
ENDOSPORES
IN SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
Marylin, or formally known
as Clostridiaceae, is an endospore
forming bacterium.
Endospores
are a very resistant
form of life, they don’t
require any nutrients to survive.
When their surrounding environment
is harsh, some bacteria can go into
a dormant state, transforming
themselves into endospores.
Once the threat is gone,
the endospores convert back
into their original
life form.
In the dormant state,
the bacteria is reduced to its DNA,
ribosomes and dipicolinic acid.
DNA is a molecule
that contains the instructions
for life, ribosomes are structures
that help read those instructions
and the dipicolinic acid
is responsible for
maintaining the
dormant state.
DID YOU
KNOW?
While drilling the world’s first underground
dump for nuclear weapon waste,
a 250 million old bacterial spore was found on a drill.
Researchers were able to isolate
these spores and bring them back to life.
Endospores
also used in synthetic
biology to study the interaction
between molecules such
as proteins.
By fixating one type of protein
on the surface of an endospore,
scientists can easily study
the interaction of these proteins
with the other of molecules
in the solution.
WHY IS THIS IMPORANT?
One example of this is the development of vaccines.
When scientists develop vaccines, they sometimes want
to neutralise a protein from the microorganism that causes the illness.
To do this, many other proteins must be tested for their ability
to neutralize the illness-causing protein.
Displaying
these proteins on
spore’s surface allows for
fast and cheap screening.
This way, scientists can find
the best binding protein
that will help to fight
against the disease.
