Bacteria Engineer

While “Bacteria Engineer” might not sound like that great a job title, this small but growing engineering specialty is part of the hot field of synthetic biology.  The MIT Technology Review has an interesting article entitled “Engineering Edible Bacteria” and naturally (pardon the pun) it addresses bacteria commonly found in yogurt and other places.  Teams of students from MIT, Caltech and many other schools are trying to make novel versions of common bacteria that might reduce lactose intolerance or tooth decay for example.  They typically are working on inserting novel DNA elements into the bacteria’s DNA.  Learn more about these efforts by reading the article and other materials on the iGEM competition that is spurring on these efforts.