Shelly Fan in Singularity Hub:
A mixture of bacteria lounge in a dish. Like the bugs populating our guts, most are benign or beneficial. But a deadly strain hides among them. These bacteria can easily escape last-line antibiotics, rapidly spread, and cause mayhem. But in this case, a single dose of genetically engineered cells hunts them down and wipes out nearly the entire population in a day, while leaving all the other harmless cells alone.
This strategy, called minicell therapy, fights fire with fire: Researchers engineer hunter cells by stripping bacteria of the ability to replicate and then genetically loading them up with proteins to home in on dangerous foes. The cells grab their targets and inject toxins into them, releasing a hurricane of chemicals that causes the bacteria’s insides to collapse.
More here.
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