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Metabolic engineering

Biosensor keeps DOPA on track

Biosensors are emerging as an important tool to evolutionarily engineer metabolic pathway enzymes for the microbial production of chemicals. A colorimetric biosensor used to increase dopamine levels in yeast now enables the production of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids from glucose.

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Figure 1: Biosensor-aided development of a tyrosine hydroxylase for the microbial production of BIAs from glucose.

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Correspondence to Pamela Peralta-Yahya.

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Peralta-Yahya, P. Biosensor keeps DOPA on track. Nat Chem Biol 11, 450–451 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.1830

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