How Synthetic Microorganisms can Biofacture High Value Products ft. Dr. Tessa Moses

04/23/21 • 44 min

This episode is about the use of synthetic organisms to produce pharmaceuticals and other high-value products.

Preceding the development of synthetic drugs in the 18th and 19th centuries, medicine relied on the use of products found in nature. It is not surprising even nowadays that a lot of drug discovery undertaken by the pharmaceutical industry incorporates compounds found in nature. Biotechnology offers the opportunity to create these same natural products in large quantities, in a sustainable manner.

In order to do that, bioscientists can take genes for metabolic pathways that create a specific compound with human health benefits from plant genomes and replicate them in microorganisms such as bacteria and yeast. These modified microbes can now be used as factories to sustainably and efficiently produce the drug of interest in the lab or in a controlled industrial environment.

To help us understand this topic a bit better and the potential advantages and challenges of this technology, Joan Cortada-Carcia interviewed Dr. Tessa Moses, a former postdoc in the Rosser lab group at the University of Edinburgh and current head of metabolomics at the university’s mass spectrometry facility called Edinomics. Media by Hanna Peach.
#BioPod #BiologyPodcast #SciencePodcast #SyntheticBiology #SynBio #SynthSys

This episode is about the use of synthetic organisms to produce pharmaceuticals and other high-value products.

Previous Episode

Detecting Parasitic Infections in Cows by Small RNA (Trypanosomiasis) with Dr Maria Contreras-Garcia

The parasite Trypanosoma brucei is transmitted via tsetse flies. It causes a disease known as trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness in humans, but in cows, it's known as nagana or animal African trypanosomiasis. In this episode, Joan Cortada García interviews Maria Contreras-Garcia from The Roslin Institute on her work to validate and characterize the use of a small RNA as a diagnostic test for trypanosomiasis. Media by Hanna Peach.
Here is a link to the event mentioned by Ruby White in our episode coda. The event is a joint University of Edinburgh and University of Sydney Workshop Series on sustainable food production, antimicrobial resistance and One Health https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/university-of-sydney-and-university-of-edinburgh-joint-workshop-series-2021-tickets-142438833385?utm_campaign=2889898_UoE-UoSyd%20OH%20workshops%20EID&utm_medium=email&utm_source=College%20of%20Science%20%26%20Engineering%2C%20The%20University%20of%20Edinburgh&dm_i=2MP0,1PXUY,9QQ8JI,5VOLI,1

Next Episode

Darwin Tree of Life: Sequencing the Biome of the Great Britain Ft. Prof. Mark Blaxter & Dr. Alex Twyford

In this episode, we talk about the Darwin Tree of Life: Sequencing the Biome of the Great Britain with Professor Mark Blaxter & Dr Alex TwyfordThe Darwin Tree of Life project aims to sequence the genomes of all 70,000 species of eukaryotic organisms in Britain and Ireland. It is a collaboration between biodiversity, genomics and analysis partners that hopes to transform the way we do biology, conservation and biotechnology. The Darwin Tree of Life Project is one of several initiatives across the globe working towards the ultimate goal of sequencing all complex life on Earth, in a venture known as the Earth BioGenome Project.
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Interviewed by Hazel (Wu) Huang, Introduced by Ruby White, Edited by Sam Haynes. Media by Hanna Peach, Artwork by Chris Donohoe