back to main Irradiation page

RADIATION-RESISTANT BACTERIA COULD ADVANCE MEDICINE, WASTE CLEANUPS

Environment News Service
AmeriScan: November 19, 1999

ROCKVILLE, Maryland, November 19, 1999 (ENS) –

The complete genetic code of the world’s most radiation resistant organism - the bacteria Deinococcus radiodurans - has been detailed by Department of Energy (DOE) funded researchers at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR). This strain of pink bacteria can survive 1.5 million rads of gamma irradiation - 3,000 times the amount that would kill a human. That dose of radiation shreds the bacteria’s genome into hundreds of pieces. The organism’s ability to repair this DNA damage in a day and go on living offers researchers clues to the mechanisms of cellular repair. Advances in this area could improve the understanding of cancer, which can be caused by unrepaired DNA damage. Genetically engineering the microbe could lead to improved ways to clean up pollution and to new industrial processes.

"This is a significant accomplishment," Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said. "Besides the insights into the way cells work, this new research may help provide a new safe and inexpensive tool for some of the nation’s most difficult cleanup challenges." D. radiodurans was first isolated in 1956 from samples of canned meat thought to be sterilized by gamma radiation. "We anticipate a terrific boost for industrial and environmental microbiology," said TIGR president Claire Fraser." D. radiodurans is readily manipulated in the lab, so new functions can be introduced into its genome. We foresee its use for novel industrial processes that most bacteria cannot survive." The research is published in the November 19 issue of the journal "Science," a publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Originally posted at http://ens.lycos.com/ens/nov99/1999l-11-19-09.html