DECRYPTION – Researchers have modified a bacterial defense device to introduce proteins into human cells.
Bacteria are an inexhaustible source of inspiration for biologists. After the Crispr-Cas9 genetic manipulation technology, directly resulting from a mechanism of their immune system, could a new revolution come from their combat panoply?
This might be going a bit too fast, but the promises of “contractile injection systems” are very real. A study published last week in the journal Nature showed that one of these “molecular crossbows” could be modified to target human cells and inject different types of proteins into them. A “biological nanosyringe” developed by researchers at MIT in Boston.
How does this work? « Contractile injection systems, also known as “contractile tail”, include a very large family of molecular structures that will contract to propel a “arrow” »explains Éric Cascales, director of the assembly team…
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