New Biological Safety Lock Prevents GMOs from Escaping the Lab

When it comes to genetically modified organisms, testing is crucial. Because they're biological, it's important to contain them both physically and genetically. Now, scientists have created a method to cause genetically modified biological organisms to die if released from the lab into the "wild."

When it comes to genetically modified organisms, physical containment often isn't enough. Lab dishes and industrial vats can break, and workers can go home with inadvertently contaminated clothes. In order to get past this issue, geneticists created a strain of E. coli with a radically changed genome that incorporates a synthetic amino acid in many places. Without this amino acid, the bacteria can't translate their RNA into properly folded proteins. Not only that, but this unnatural amino acid can only be cooked up in the lab.

"If you make a chemical that's potentially explosive, you put stabilizers in it," said George Church, one of the researchers, in a news release. "If you build a car, you put in seat belts and airbags."

The newly designed gnome and synthetic amino acid are the seat belts and airbags, in this case. But the E. coli isn't just safeguarded, it's also resistant to two viruses. In theory, these strains of bacteria could be used in biotechnology applications with less fear that they will be contaminated by viruses.

"As part of our dedication to safety engineering in biology, we're trying to get better at creating physically contained test systems to develop something that eventually will be so biologically contained that we won't need physical containment anymore," said Church.

The findings are huge for future bioengineering processes. More specifically, it could mean improving lab safety while at the same time improving the testing field for various processes.

The findings are published in the journal Nature.

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