MIT News December 10, 2021
One of the obstacles to developing “living biotherapeutics” is that many of the species that could be beneficial are harmed by oxygen, making it difficult to manufacture, store, and deliver them. Researchers at MIT have shown that they can protect those bacteria with a coating that helps them to survive the manufacturing process. They developed a self-assembling cellular coating to improve the viability and stability of the next generation biotherapeutic Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. They have demonstrated protection from both harsh processing conditions and oxygen exposure, even in the absence of canonical cryoprotectants. According to the researchers the advance will increase the range of microbes that can be stably manufactured and facilitate the development of emerging strains of interest by ensuring their postproduction viability…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
