Scientists have designed genetically engineered bacteria to detect cancer cells

CTOnews.com, August 12, the international scientific team recently published a paper in Science, introducing a genetic modification technology called CATCH and designing bacteria that can detect the presence of tumor DNA in vivo.

CATCH technology is mainly used to detect targeted, CRISPR-recognized horizontal gene transfer cells, and a bacteria named Acinetobacter baylyi was designed in the laboratory environment.

The bacteria can naturally absorb free-floating DNA from its surroundings and integrate it into its own genome so that it can produce new proteins for growth.

The bacteria can swim to locations that are difficult to detect by conventional methods such as the colon, including mirror DNA of human cancer cells, activate linked antibiotic resistance genes and automatically zip up like a zipper when they encounter cancer cells.

Scientists have successfully detected colorectal cancer cells in laboratory mice using the bacteria, but the technique is not ready for practical diagnosis.

The team said it was still working on the next step, including improving the efficiency of the technology and evaluating its performance compared to other diagnostic tests.

CTOnews.com attached a detailed link to the paper, which can be read in depth by interested users.