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Natural product biosynthesis moves in vitro

Heterologous production of natural products in non-native bacteria can be used to increase yields of certain bioactive compounds; however, producing small molecules inside bacteria has numerous limitations. Two reports of the in vitro reconstruction of entire biosynthetic pathways highlight the advantages and challenges of this approach for pathway engineering.

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Figure 1: Biosynthetic pathways.

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Fecik, R. Natural product biosynthesis moves in vitro. Nat Chem Biol 3, 531–532 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio0907-531

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