I read this release and thought, hey neat, but then realized that they’ve been doing essentially the same thing to produce insulin since the early 1980s.
Taken at face value the lede is just wrong.
“Microorganisms may soon be efficiently and inexpensively producing novel pharmaceutical compounds, such as flavonoids, that fight aging, cancer or obesity, as well as high-value chemicals…”
They already do just that to make insulin, human growth hormone and a Hep B vaccine, among others. I’m surprised that the researcher who approved this hadn’t considered it, since that’s just the sort of feedback I always get when I write something a shade wrong.
Not to take away from the researchers at the University of Buffalo — I blame the press release writer (but not too much, since I’m sure I’ve done the same before) — they have put together a nifty way of getting e. coli to produce flavanoids. Anti-oxidants are good things, and I’m sure researchers are also scratching their heads over other applications.
I look forward to the day when they can repopulate my gut bacteria with new critters designed to produce biomolecules that keep me slim, young and able to hear the thoughts of my enemies.