, /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, a team of scientists at Eligo has demonstrated it was possible to genetically modify bacteria with nearly 100% efficiency directly in the gut of animals. This work provides scientists with a novel strategy to better understand how genes from our microbiome drive disease, as well as creates new opportunities for the development of innovative therapies. (Read the study / the full press release ).
The microbiome, composed of billions of bacteria, is essential to our health. However, we are discovering that bacterial genes are implicated in a growing number of diseases: from bacterial peptides that trigger autoimmune diseases to virulence factors that contribute to inflammation, tumor formation, and neurodegenerative diseases. " said David Bikard, cofounder of Eligo Bioscience and researcher at the Institut Pasteur in .
Eligo demonstrated the ability to engineer a bacteriophage-derived capsid containing a synthetic DNA payload encoding a base-editor system. After oral administration to mice, the capsid delivered the payload with extreme efficiency to target bacterial populations residing among the hundreds of bacterial species in the mouse gut. Remarkably, the system could precisely inactivate antibiotic resistance genes by creating single-base pair mutations in the corresponding genes.
When targeting strains, the technology modified the target gene in over 90% of the bacteria, reaching up to 99.7% in some cases. Jesus Fernandez, Eligo VP of .
