Hi r/science!

Researchers from our School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences have become the first in the world to use CRISPR gene-editing technology to alter a flagellar motor.

They used synthetic biology techniques to engineer a sodium motor onto the genome to create a sodium-driven swimming bacteria. They then tested and tracked the bacteria’s ability to adapt when the environment was starved of sodium, showing the stators were able to rapidly self-repair the flagellar motor and restore movement.

Associate Professor Matthew Baker, a co-author of the paper said the study’s findings can help us better understand the origin of molecular motors in mechanistic detail, how they came together and how they adapt.

Here's a link to the published research if you're keen on having a read: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abq2492