OREANDA-NEWS. November 23, 2011. University of Tartu researchers opened a new door into the world of synthetic biology, where microorganisms will begin to produce ingredients for pharmaceutical drugs in the future, reported the press-centre of UT.

Their study concluded that cellular activities are coordinated by complicated networks of signals, built from combinations of phosphate groups.
 
"It turned out that these phosphate groups form certain patterns on the surface of cells and these patterns are not randomly situated, but have a certain logic, a multiphosphorylation code. Jokingly we call it a bar code, like the kind used in stores. Figuratively speaking, we have practically finished deciphering this code," said University of Tartu senior researcher of molecular biology Mart Loog.
 
By combining certain genes, scientists can create synthetic life, and through the discovery of the codes, it is possible to program organic material to produce important molecules, and design modules and switches by which the activities of the artificial cells can be controlled.
 
"Instead of a chemist synthesizing this under a fume hood, which is very expensive and environmentally hazardous, microorganisms will begin to synthesize drugs for us in, say, 50 years," said Loog. "To some extent they already synthesize fuels. But organic material contains all of the machinery for organic synthesis. We have yet to discover most of it."