Biocontainment/biocontrol system and methods
AssigneeRegents of the University of Minnesota
InventorsMaciej Maselko, Mike Smanski
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This disclosure describes, in one aspect, a cell that includes a biocontainment system. Generally, the biocontainment system includes a coding region whose overexpression decreases growth of the cell, a transcription regulatory region that includes a silent mutation and is operably linked upstream of the coding region, and a polynucleotide that encodes a programmable transcription activator engineered to bind to the transcription regulatory region in the absence of the silent mutation. Thus, in the absence of the silent mutation, the programmable transcription activator induces overexpression of the coding region; in the presence of the silent mutation, the programmable transcription activator does not initiate overexpression of the coding region.
Claims18
A cell of a sexually reproducing organism, the cell comprising a biocontainment system that comprises:
- a coding region whose overexpression alters growth of the cell or impairs cell division;
- a transcription regulatory region operably linked upstream of the coding region, and comprising a silent mutation;
- and
- a polynucleotide that encodes a programmable transcription activator engineered to bind to the transcription regulatory region in the absence of the silent mutation after sexual reproduction, thereby overexpressing the coding region in the absence of the silent mutation, but does not initiate overexpression of the coding region when the transcription regulatory region comprises the silent mutation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.