Towards safer GMOs
Genetically modified
organisms possess unnatural functionalities. They are opposed due to many
reasons, one of which is the chance that they might transfer their unnatural
properties to other organisms which might cause environmental damage (?).
In an attempt to make
GMOs more environmentally safer, people have been trying to develop organisms
which can't grow outside lab and also are incapable of transferring their
unnatural properties to other organisms.
Dr. Farren J. Isaac's group at Yale University had developed
E. coli strains which had both of the
above properties (Rovner et al.). In the paper published in 2013 they reported
the strains created by them. These strains were modified in such a way that
they needed synthetic amino acids (sAAs) for their survival. This makes them
impossible to grow outside lab where these amino acids are not available. They
also are more resistant to viruses which are main vectors for transfer of genes
from one organism to another.
One might think that mutations in these bacteria
could allow them to evade these limitations, but the researchers have modified
the DNA at various positions making it almost impossible to escape. Even though
the research has been successful only in one species of bacteria, it is a
landmark for further similar work to be done in other organisms.
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