Very important point. E. coli describes a range of organisms that share about 14% of their genome. For comparison, all of primates share over 99%. The strains e

Very important point. E. coli describes a range of organisms that share about 14% of their genome. For comparison, all of primates share over 99%. The strains everyone uses for genetic engineering are derived from strains isolated many decades ago and are incapable of colonizing hosts. They've also been selected over the years to be hysterical (they over respond to any stimulus, since when you're picking colonies to study response, you select the bright, clear one...and if you do it again and again over the years, you select for hysteria). Poking around, I couldn't find the strain they used. They might have engineered a gut isolate. They might not. Doesn't appear to say anywhere.