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| − | <h2>
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| − | The Advantages to a Synthetic Biology Approach
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| − | <p>
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| − | A cornerstone in synthetic biology is the connection of distinct biological functions to create useful system
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| − | level behavior. We can take advantage of how bacteria naturally localize in tumors and mass produce products, invade cells,
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| − | and release the products directly into the cells. This allows easily-degraded
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| − | compounds to be effectively delivered and prevents these compounds from affecting healthy
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| − | cells. The combination of these mechanisms creates a powerful, cancer-specific circuit for gene therapy.
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| − | </p>
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| − | <hr>
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| − | <h2>
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| − | Expanding the Possibilities of Gene Therapy
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| − | <p>
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| − | Anticipating the applications of synthetic biology to healthcare, we devised a therapeutic approach to modulate mammalian
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| − | gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Recombinant E. coli with the capacity to invade mammalian cells
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| − | will deliver an shRNA payload against an aberrantly expressed gene, for example an oncogene in cancer or proinflammatory
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| − | cytokine in inflammation, to the host cytoplasm. This shRNA payload will then inhibit protein function, which can combat
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| − | mutations that confer resistance to traditional therapies, as with the tyrosine kinase inhibitors gefitinib and imatinib.
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| − | </p>
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| − | <hr>
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| − | <h2>
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| − | The Future Outlook
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| − | </h2>
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| − | <p>
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| − | Our mechanism to modulate mammalian gene expression can have a variety of applications, extending throughout as well beyond
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| − | healthcare. The engineered bacteria would have a significant application to human health particularly in conditions
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| − | characterized by aberrant gene expression, such as with oncogenes in cancer, cytokines in inflammation, and many others.
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| − | For cancer applications, the engineered bacteria can be taken as an oral probiotic, which will then selectively localize
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| − | in tumor cells to prove gene therapy.
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| − | </p>
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| − | </div>
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| | </body> | | </body> |
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