EurekAlert January 6, 2020
Plants and microorganisms naturally biosynthesize chemicals that often are converted into derivatives with reduced toxicity or enhanced solubility. As a proof of principle, researchers in the UK used genetic engineering to program E. coli and cyanobacteria to make 1-octanol, a chemical currently used in perfumes, which is toxic to the bacteria. They then added an extra set of instructions to E. coli so it would produce two different derivatives of 1-octanol that are both less harmful. The researchers say if this were to be scaled up for industrial systems the engineered bacteria would produce the non-toxic derivative of 1-octanol, which would then be recovered and chemically transformed back into 1-octanol, ready for use.
With the successful proof of concept, they propose a bio derivatization strategy for biotechnological chemicals production, defined as purposeful biochemical derivatization of intended target molecules…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Overview of the bio derivatization process. Credit: PNAS first published January 8, 2020Â