Squeezing more production out of bacteria

Engineering microorganisms to manufacture chemicals is not a new idea: In the 1980s, scientists figured out how to get bacteria to produce insulin, which diabetics need to control their disease. This technique, known as metabolic engineering, involves inserting many copies of the gene for a desired compound into bacteria or yeast cells. Scientists have also used this approach to turn bacteria into tiny factories that can generate biofuels such as ethanol, as well as plastics.

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