[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6324\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EKiller bug could deliver medicines\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe idea of using bugs as tiny drug couriers is not new: scientists have been engineering viruses to deliver medicines and fix genetic defects for some time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, the potential of viruses is limited because they have a small number of genes and because they do not have an active metabolism of their own and cannot respond to the environment or the host. This limits the scope for their engineering for certain medical purposes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Viruses can only carry a limited amount of information,\u2019 said Professor Luis Serrano at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, Spain. \u2018They have genes but, unlike bacteria, they do not have a metabolism so they cannot respond to changes in a human cell.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing bacteria instead of viruses to deliver treatments to specific parts of the body would provide greater scope for fighting disease because they have more genes to tweak.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, bacteria are also significantly more complex to work with. For a start, they typically have cell walls \u2013 making it difficult for them to communicate with target cells \u2013 and they often draw a strong immune response when implanted into humans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow, scientists believe they may have found a suitable candidate that has more genes than a virus but is capable of getting into cells to carry out medical missions \u2013 and it\u2019s one that we\u2019ve previously associated with disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPneumonia\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMycoplasma pneumoniae\u003C\/em\u003E can cause bacterial pneumonia in humans, but also ticks many of the boxes required to become a cell doctor. \u2018It has no cell wall, it does not cause major inflammation and it can be grown in the lab,\u2019 explained Prof. Serrano, who studied the bug as part of the CELLDOCTOR project, funded by the EU\u0027s European Research Council (ERC).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EM. pneumoniae\u003C\/em\u003E is also a very small bacterium. It is roughly the size of a mitochondrion \u2013 the subcellular powerhouse that provides our cells with energy.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause it is so small and can enter cells without triggering a major immune reaction, Prof. Serrano sees the bug\u2019s potential as a medical tool.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018We want to engineer bacteria that can get into the human organism, detect anomalies and repair them.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProfessor Luis Serrano, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Spain\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We want to engineer a vehicle that can get into the human organism, detect anomalies and repair them,\u2019 he said. \u2018It could live inside human cells like a parasite capable of improving health.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce inside the target cell, the bacterium would blend in with the other structures already there. But unlike the cell\u2019s other subcellular furniture, the engineered \u003Cem\u003EM. pneumoniae\u003C\/em\u003E bacterium would produce and secrete drugs that a patient needs, or proteins capable of correcting a genetic disease.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIt would not cause disease itself because the researchers have genetically engineered the pneumoniae bacterium to ensure that it is not infectious.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough the CELLDOCTOR project, Prof. Serrano focused on understanding what makes the bacterium tick before exploring its capacity for delivering drugs, vaccines and genes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy understanding its genetics and biochemistry, the Barcelona-based researchers developed a deeper understanding of the bug \u2013 so that they could redesign a simple organism that would act like a living pill.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThanks to additional ERC funding, Prof. Serrano was able to take this work one step further and look\u0026nbsp;at specific uses of \u003Cem\u003EM. pneumoniae\u003C\/em\u003E for treating lung and genital tract diseases in a project called MICO PLUNG.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Our initial work was pointing towards medical applications for \u003Cem\u003EM. pneumoniae\u003C\/em\u003E and this\u2026 project was a chance to direct our efforts towards more clinically applied research,\u2019 he explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERespiratory disorders\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe bacterium is known to live in lung tissue, so researchers are working on how genetically engineered versions of the bug could deliver therapeutic proteins that could fight against infectious respiratory disorders.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team also see potential for bacteria to be used as vaccines, deliberately training the immune system to fight unwelcome viruses and bacteria.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch in this area may change the way we think about bacteria such as \u003Cem\u003EM. pneumoniae\u003C\/em\u003E by turning an old foe into a valuable ally.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDisease-fighting with microbes\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\n \n\n\n\u003Col class=\u0022ecl-timeline\u0022data-ecl-auto-init=\u0022Timeline\u0022 data-ecl-timeline\u003E\u003Cli\n class=\u0022ecl-timeline__item\u0022\n \u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ecl-timeline__tooltip\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ecl-timeline__tooltip-arrow\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ecl-timeline__label\u0022\u003E2012\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ecl-timeline__title\u0022\u003EFirst gene therapy treatment approved\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ecl-timeline__content\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter two decades of significant progress in human gene therapy, a treatment delivered by the adeno-associated virus became the first gene therapy to receive EU approval. Known as Glybera, it is used to treat patients with a metabolic disorder called lipoprotein lipase deficiency, which causes inflammation of the pancreas. Work is continuing to develop gene therapies for different conditions and to refine how genetic material is delivered to the patient\u2019s cells, including the possibility of using bacteria.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/6.%20adenovirus_resize_with%20credit.jpg\u0022 alt=\u0022\u0022 \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-swa4o5xlvg5e-2kz3ulenoznbzpluecowulrl-wu4hw\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-SWa4O5XLvG5e_2kz3uLENOZnBZpLuecOWUlRL_Wu4Hw\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]