ABSTRACT
Bacteria are unicellular, relatively simple, and can double in very short times. These attributes can be exploited for technological advantage. They are useful for the expression of large quantities of products, such as proteins and enzymes, as well as small molecules that are not efficiently synthesized in the laboratory via bio-organic chemistry. Since bacteria lack the posttranslational machinery endogenous to eukaryotic cells (e.g., glycosylation; see Chapter 1), they are unable to process very complex proteins. However, a number of proteins with therapeutic value, such as insulin can be readily produced using bacteria. We will describe the molecular basis, from a systems viewpoint, for the many technological achievements already realized using bacteria, as well as those that are likely to see continued research and development.
