Grantee Research Project Results
2022 Progress Report: Developing Microbial Biocontainment Strategies and Their Assessment Methods
EPA Grant Number: R840205Title: Developing Microbial Biocontainment Strategies and Their Assessment Methods
Investigators: Moon, Tae Seok , Parker, Kimberly M
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis
EPA Project Officer: Callan, Richard
Project Period: July 1, 2021 through May 10, 2025
Project Period Covered by this Report: July 1, 2021 through June 30,2022
Project Amount: $744,262
RFA: Assessment Tools for Biotechnology Products (2020) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Chemical Safety for Sustainability , Safer Chemicals
Objective:
Our long-term vision is to enable the successful development and assessment of biocontainment strategies to understand and prevent the escape of genetically engineered microbes (GEMs) in the environment. To this end, we aim to (1) develop a novel genetic “suicide” circuit that turns on only after the designed “mission” of a GEM is accomplished and (2) assess its function and stability under environmentally-relevant conditions.
Progress Summary:
We have developed the most genetically stable kill switch to date for biocontainment. Additionally, this generalizable kill switch platform has been applied to multiple individual strains and strains in synthetic microbiota. These kill switch strains have been tested using media containing real-world environmental samples. Potential factors contributing to differences in the escape rates between environmental samples and laboratory media were investigated.
Future Activities:
We will develop and assess aromatic-dependent kill switches in soil bacteria such as Rhodococcus and Pseudomonas strains. Notably, it will include the iterative design-build-test-learn cycle to ensure the genetic stability of kill switches under real environmental conditions. We will also evaluate the potential for inhibition by environmental constituents (e.g., organic matter) to affect escape rates in environmental media, as well as expand to longer-duration experiments to evaluate the long-term stability of the kill switch in the environment.
Journal Articles on this Report : 5 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 9 publications | 8 publications in selected types | All 8 journal articles |
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Berezin C, Aguilera L, Billerbech S, Bourne P, Densmore D, Freemont P, Grochowski T, Hernandez S, Hillson N, King C, Kopke M, Ma S, Miller K, Moon T, Moore J, Munsky B, Myers C, Nicholas D, Peccoud S, Zhou W, Peccoud J. Ten simple rules for managing laboratory information. PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY 2023;19(12):e1011652 |
R840205 (2022) |
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Moon T. SynMADE: synthetic microbiota across diverse ecosystems. TRENDS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY 2022;40(12):1405-1414 |
R840205 (2022) |
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Moon T. Earth: Extinguishing anthropogenic risks through harmonization. NEW BIOTECHNOLOGY 2024;80:69-71 |
R840205 (2022) |
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Rottinghaus A, Vo S, Moon T. Computational design of CRISPR guide RNAs to enable strain-specific control of microbial consortia. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2023;120(1):e2213154120 |
R840205 (2022) |
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Xi C, Diao J, Moon T. Advances in ligand-specific biosensing for structurally similar molecules. CELL SYSTEMS 2023;14(12):1024-1043 |
R840205 (2022) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
genetically modified organism; biosafety; cleanup; genetic circuitRelevant Websites:
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.