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Engineered microbes are almost always far less fit than wild-type. They will survive best in a monoculture, and if they are forced to compete with less hobbled
by NtochkaNzvanova 3y ago
Engineered microbes are almost always far less fit than wild-type. They will survive best in a monoculture, and if they are forced to compete with less hobbled strains they will usually find a way to get rid of the engineered modifications in order to grow faster.
- worik 3y ago> Engineered microbes are almost always far less fit than wild-type. They will survive best in a monoculture True But the article did not address this, it should have. It will be the big question before deployment
- __MatrixMan__ 3y agoI've always wondered how quickly this effect would ruin the monoculture. Suppose you're treating the engineered microbes like sourdough starter: Add them to nutrient solution, wait for desired effect, take a small sample, add to next batch. You'd expect a selective pressure away from the engineered outcome, such that after X batches, your samples are overrun by wild-ish type mutants. But is that a merely academic concern, something that might happen after 500 batches, or are you out of luck by batch three?