Biochem LLC - modification of microorganisms for your
Genetic engineering today is the fastest growing high-tech industry. Every year there are several scientific discoveries in the world that turn over old ideas and provide new opportunities for the application of genetics in various fields.
So now with the help of genetic engineering, you can create bacteria that will produce proteins, amino acids, enzymes, vitamins, hormones, antibiotics and much more. For example, insulin production used to be possible only from the blood of donors, so it could not be obtained in unlimited quantities. Now this problem is solved.
What we can:
Getting Insulin
The genetic modification in this case is that the human protein (insulin) gene is introduced into the cell. This technology makes it possible to isolate proteins not from donor blood, but from GM organisms, which reduces the risk of infection of drugs and increases the purity of the isolated proteins.
Human interferon
Interferons are first synthesized in the cell as precursors containing a signal peptide at the N-terminus of the polypeptide chain, which is then cleaved and, as a result, a mature interferon is formed that has full biological activity.
Bacteria to protect the environment
A significant role in environmental protection can be played by genetically modified microorganisms involved in the treatment of wastewater, waste and industrial wastes. And the creation of new forms of actinomycetes can be the key to the restoration of waste lands, which remain after the development of mineral resources.
Somatropin production
The novelty of the proposed scheme for the production of recombinant human growth hormone is the use of a special tag — SUMO of a similar baker's yeast protein encoded by the SMT3 gene — and a specialized protease (encoded with the Ulp1 protein domain from S. cerevisiae) that specifically recognizes and cuts Smt3. The use of SUMO-like tags gives significant advantages, as it allows increasing the expression of the target protein, increasing its solubility and facilitating proper folding. Another important advantage is that cutting Smt3 tag does not depend on the sequence of the target protein, since Ulp1 protease recognizes the structure of the SUMO-like tag, which allows you to get the target protein without additional amino acids. This is a significant advantage, since when a recombinant protein is expressed in E.coli, this protein must contain the amino acid methionine at the N - end of the protein; for growth hormone, this “additive” significantly reduces its activity. The advantage of using this tag is enhanced if you attach a sequence of 6 histidines to it, which allows you to affinely retain proteins on Ni containing chromatographic sorbents. Thus, a substantial part of purification of recombinant protein takes place in three stages: at the first — the protein is purified by metal-chelate chromatography on a Ni-containing column, at the second — the tag is cut off from the target protein, on the third — the target protein passes in the “slip through” through the same Ni containing the column, and the “under-cut” protein, SUMO-tag and protease are retained on the column, as they contain a sequence of 6 histidines.
The use of biotechnology in medicine
Genome Editing
The most popular genome editing method today is CRISPR / Cas. With the help of modified bacterial enzymes, it is possible to very accurately make corrections to a specific section of DNA.
Cancer immunotherapy
In order for the immune system to start cracking down on a tumor, it needs to be activated, or to provide it with the necessary components. And we know how to do it. This type of cancer treatment is called immunotherapy ...
Genetic Therapy
There are a huge number of genetic diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, muscular dystrophy and sickle cell anemia. Genetic diseases are rare and the patient is given few adequate treatments
Test systems
Test systems for molecular genetic studies in the field of hereditary diseases, oncology and prenatal diagnosis, based on reliable methods: PCR `` in real time`` and PCR, followed by sequencing.
