4 ms·
Biologists Invoke the Past in Modern Bacteria
- anti-shill 11y agowhat could possibly go wrong?
- tstactplsignore 11y agoAlmost nothing, actually. Non-pathogenic laboratory strains of E. coli are missing several key gene families and operons required for host pathogenicity, and Ef-Tu is a protein involved with translation, a basic process of the cell entirely unrelated to pathogenicity. No matter how the ancient EF-Tu performs, it won't suddenly result in complex and functionally unrelated mechanisms required for pathogenicity. There was essentially no human risk involved in this (or similar) experiments.
- duaneb 11y agoSame thing that can go wrong with every dangerous virus or bacteria under study. There are several varieties of extremely deadly smallpox, for instance, that are kept alive.
- 88e282102ae2e5b 11y agoStandard E. coli isn't dangerous. Undergraduates work with it routinely in virtually every biology lab in the US.