9 July 2014

Researchers have used grid computing resources provided by Metacentrum, the Czech national grid infrastructure, to help design toxic-chemical-eating bacteria. The team used a combination of grid-powered mathematical modeling and laboratory experiments to design and test a five-step metabolic pathway for a new bacterium. The predictions of the model were used to create bacterial strains containing the optimal enzyme ratios, and the behavior of these real-life bacteria matched predictions closely. The key is to balance the activity of multiple enzymes to keep the bacterium alive, while sustaining a high processing rate.