Biogurt: A Tasty Example of Probiotics and Biomimicry

A few weeks ago, the “Better World by Design” conference brought together leading designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs in their respected fields by holding panels and workshops to share the latest green technology. Among the many fascinating topics introduced, biomimicry was particularly interesting to me. By observing nature and discovering how it has perfected solutions to many of the same problems that humans grapple with makes a lot of sense.

As a non-profit organization, the biomimicry institute’s mission states “to nurture and grow a global community of people who are learning from, emulating and conserving life's genius to create a healthier, more sustainable planet”. Their primary goal encompasses the idea that nature has already perfected and solved many of the problems that we humans are struggling with.

A recent example of a fascinating biomimicry project called Biogurt deals with Probiotics (synthetic biology) and is being conducted at both Caltech and MIT. Synthetic biology consists of designing and building new organisms that perform useful functions to improve human health (past projects include malaria medicine and targeted delivery vehicles). In the project, researchers and students develop synthetic microbes to fight cavities, produce vitamins, and treat lactose intolerance by capitalizing on edible bacteria and its capabilities. Christina Smolke, a synthetic biologist at Caltech and advisor to the university's team gave advice on the group strategy by saying "If you really want to apply a bacterium to a person, think about where they naturally exist and survive in a human while still trying to engineer new functions."

So by looking to nature, the team used the human body a model by analyzing some of the billions of bacteria colonized in the average human. The mouth in particular is a hot breeding ground for both good and bad strains. For example, Streptococcus mutans (a strain that lives in dental plaque) feeds off of sugar on our teeth and then excretes acids, which eventually wear away the tooth enamel and lead to cavities. In order to create cavity-fighting microbes, the team first created a peptide (a short protein segment) that has previously shown to prevent the bad bacteria from attaching to the teeth. The team then constructed a piece of DNA possessing both the gene that makes the peptide as well as a gene for a molecular signal that triggers the bacterium to excrete it. The DNA will then be introduced into a microbe found in yogurt called Lactobacillus bulgaricus. Although the team hasn't done this yet, they have successfully inserted foreign DNA into the microbe, which prepares the microbe for continued genetic engineering.

If the team succeeds in engineering the microbe, the simple act of eating yogurt would deposit it on the teeth where it would produce the protective peptide and prevent cavities. This method could prove far superior to antibacterials because the microbes target only the bad bacteria, rather than destroying both the good and bad. In addition to improving oral hygiene, the edible bacteria project could also have a more profound impact with future projects focusing on cheaper means to medicine production or diet improvement in impoverished countries.

For more information check out engineering edible bacteria