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Genetically modified bacteria were the first organisms to be modified in the laboratory, due to their simple genetics. These organisms are now used for several purposes, and are particularly important in producing large amounts of pure human proteins for use in medicine.〔 ''Leader 2008 — Fee required for access to full text.''〕 The first example of this occurred in 1978 when Herbert Boyer working at a University of California laboratory took a version of the human insulin gene and inserted into the bacterium ''Escherichia coli'' to produce synthetic "human" insulin. Four years later, it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The drug industry has made good use of this discovery in its quest to produce medication for diabetes.〔 ''Walsh 2005 — Fee required for access to full text.''〕 Similar bacteria have been used to produce clotting factors to treat haemophilia, and human growth hormone to treat various forms of dwarfism.〔 ''Bryant 2007 — Fee required for access to full text.''〕 These recombinant proteins are safer than the products they replaced, since the older products were purified from cadavers and could transmit diseases. Indeed, the human-derived proteins caused many cases of AIDS and hepatitis C in haemophilliacs and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease from human growth hormone.〔 For instance, the bacteria which cause tooth decay are called ''Streptococcus mutans''. These bacteria consume leftover sugars in the mouth, producing lactic acid that corrodes tooth enamel and ultimately causes cavities. Scientists have recently modified ''Streptococcus mutans'' to produce no lactic acid. These transgenic bacteria, if properly colonized in a person's mouth, could reduce the formation of cavities. Transgenic microbes have also been used in recent research to kill or hinder tumors, and to fight Crohn's disease Genetically modified bacteria are also used in some soils to facilitate crop growth, and can also produce chemicals which are toxic to crop pests. GM bacteria have also been developed to leach copper from ore,〔Valda, Daniela and Dowling, Julian (10 December 2010) (Making Microbes Better Miners ) Business Chile Magazine, Accessed 21 march 2012〕 clean up mercury pollution and detect arsenic in drinking water.〔Sanderson, Katherine (24 February 2012) (New Portable Kit Detects Arsenic In Wells ) Chemical and Engineering News, Retrieved 23 January 2013〕 ==Bacteria-synthesized transgenic products== *Insulin *Hepatitis B vaccine *Tissue plasminogen activator *Human growth hormone *Ice-minus bacteria *Interferon *bt corn 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Genetically modified bacteria」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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