Genetically engineered Escherichia coli can sense and report on conditions in the mouse gut, highlighting the potential for development of 'living diagnostics'. Mice were administered bacteria containing a memory system—a 'trigger element' (the lambda Cro gene transcribed from a tetracycline-inducible promoter) and a 'memory element' (from the phage lambda cl/Cro region). Faeces from anhydrotetracycline-treated mice contained only bacteria in the Cro state; faeces from untreated mice contained bacteria in the cl state.
References
Kotula, J. et al. Programmable bacteria detect and record an environmental signal in the mammalian gut. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 10.1073/pnas.1321321111
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Bacteria engineered to monitor our gut. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 11, 268 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2014.57
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2014.57