Optogenetics Turns Gut Bacterial Genes On and Off Inside Worms

Optogenetics Turns Gut Bacterial Genes On and Off Inside Worms
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December 23, 2020
eLife that shows they could use different colors of light to turn gut bacteria genes on and off while the bacteria were in the intestines of worms. The research was made possible by an optogenetic control system Jeffrey Tabor, PhD, from Rice, has been developing for more than a decade. In the current study his team worked with Meng Wang, PhD, and her group at Baylor.
Wang had already shown that bacteria that make a metabolite called colanic acid (CA) could extend the lifespan of worms in her lab by as much as 50%, but her collaboration with Tabor, a synthetic biologist, could provide tools to answer the bigger question of how the metabolite imparts longer life.

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