Discuss one important discovery that has involved the use of E. coli.

1. Discuss one important discovery that has involved the use of E. coli.
2. Discuss two reasons why E. coli is so commonly used in biomedical research.
3. Table 1 lists several databases involving E. coli. Choose one, visit the site, and report what you have found.
4. Define a bacterial plasmid. How is this different from the chromosomal DNA?
5. One example of genomic studies to E. coli is the Keio collection, which has mutated all E. coli genes. This study found that 4288 could be deleted without killing the bacteria. How many of these genes were essential for E. coli to survive and function? How many of them have unknown functions?
6.Describe an example of how E. coli could be used as a biosensor. Discuss what the molecule would be that the E. coli is sensing and how the bacteria would respond after binding to the molecule.
7. What is synthetic biology? What is the source of synthesized DNA?
8. How has the use of synthetically modified E. coli been beneficial to the perfume industry?