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Kombucha-inspired microbial mixture let scientists create ‘living materials’
Imperial and MIT researchers have made smart living materials by engineering microbes to detect and react to their environment.
The materials, known as engineered living materials (ELMs), could be used to detect and filter contaminants in water, in packaging to detect and alert to damage using fluorescence, and act as ‘living photographs’ which display pictures projected onto them.
Our new system moves us forward by creating materials that are scalable and therefore more likely to be useful in the real world Charlie Gilbert Department of Bioengineering
These ELMs are made by a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) combination of yeast and bacteria similar to those found in ‘kombucha mother’ – a mixture used to brew the fermented tea drink kombucha. It is also known as symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY).
Exposure to mutagens, or mutation-causing agents, can not only bring about changes in DNA but also appear to induce errors when genes are transcribed to.
Credit: USC/Stephanie Kleinman
Exposure to mutagens, or mutation-causing agents, can not only bring about changes in DNA but also appear to induce errors when genes are transcribed to make proteins, which may be an important factor in age-related diseases.
USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology Assistant Professor Marc Vermulst and colleagues made the discovery by using state-of-the-art circle sequencing techniques to determine how frequently molecules called RNA polymerases make mistakes when they read (or transcribe ) our DNA. RNA polymerases transcribe DNA to make temporary copies of genes, which are then used to build all of the proteins required to keep us alive and healthy.