University of California-Berkeley researchers, Gabriel Lopez and J. Christopher Anderson conducted a study that will provide a practical method of bio-containment to control the spread of a newly created organism.

This was done by the researchers through turning the Escherichia coli into an auxotroph, an organism modified to require a particular compound for its growth. The researchers targeted five essential genes in  E. coli and modified them. These modifications caused mutations that will require a molecule of benzothiazole for the gene to be functional. This mechanism ensured that the organism is activated only when needed.

This technique is based on the 'lock and key' approach, wherein the molecule serves as the key while the lock is engineered by the researchers. It is different from other approaches of bio-containment which is dependent on a "kill switch". In this approach, the default stage of the organism is death, and the researchers must turn on the genes to enable the survival of the organism. This provides a fast, cheap and easy to deploy approach that may be used in controlling the accidental spread of engineered organism.

Details of their study can be read at UC Berkeley's website.

Figure: The researchers used the chemical benzothiazole as a molecular key to activate essential genes in bacteria. The red highlights the areas targeted for mutation. The method demonstrates a cheap, easy technique that could be used for the biocontainment of genetically modified organisms. (Image by Gabriel Lopez)