iBB

In a recent paper published in Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, researchers from BERG-iBB, MIT, Institut Pasteur, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal and University of New York unravel new genetic and environmental determinants that shape the transposition rate of type 2 insertion sequences (IS2). These were found to encompass asymmetries in target DNA composition, medium composition, growth-phase, and production scale. The importance of these findings is manifold, going from the design of safer DNA-based therapeutics to the ON/OFF regulation of synthetic genetic circuits. Click on title to learn more.

Photo: South Tower at IST, home of iBB labs. http://tecnico.ulisboa.pt/

Researchers from BERG-iBB and the Prather lab at MIT developed a pgi gene knockout E. coli strain with the specific goal of producing large amounts of plasmid DNA vectors. The new strain was tested by Nature Technology Corporation in the US, yielding 2100-2200 mg plasmid DNA per L in 14 L bioreactors. The strain may be usefull in the large scale production of plasmid-based gene transfer vectors with application in  gene therapy, DNA vaccination and recombinant protein production by transient transfection. The research was developed under the framework of the MIT-Portugal program and is a direct result of Geisa Gonçalves (in the photo) Ph D. thesis in Bioengineering. Click on title to learn more.