ArticleNature chemical biology2024
Sentinel cells programmed to respond to environmental DNA including human sequences.
Article in Nature chemical biology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Engineering microbial consortia for distributed signal processing.Nature communications · 2026Article
- PlasmidGPT: A generative framework for plasmid analysis and generation.Science advances · 2026Article
- Programming Next-Generation Synthetic Biosensors by Genetic Circuit Design.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Bacteria as living biosensors for DNA.Nature reviews bioengineering · 2026Article
- Expression of a phage RecET recombinase system improves detection of shorter DNA fragments by anmicroPublication biology · 2026Article
- Microbial biosensors for diagnostics, surveillance and epidemiology: Today's achievements and tomorrow's prospects.Microbial biotechnology · 2024Review
- Mutation of the peptide-regulated transcription factor ComR for amidated peptide specificity and heterologous function inMicrobiology spectrum · 2024Article
- Accelerating Genetic Sensor Development, Scale-up, and Deployment Using Synthetic Biology.Biodesign research · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Monitoring environmental DNA can track the presence of organisms, from viruses to animals, but requires continuous sampling of transient sequences from a complex milieu. Here we designed living sentinels using Bacillus subtilis to report the uptake of a DNA sequence after matching it to a preencoded target. Overexpression of ComK increased DNA uptake 3,000-fold, allowing for femtomolar detection in samples dominated by background DNA. This capability was demonstrated using human sequences containing single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with facial features. Sequences were recorded with high efficiency and were protected from nucleases for weeks. The SNP could be determined by sequencing or in vivo using CRISPR interference to turn on reporter expression in response to a specific base. Multiple SNPs were recorded by one cell or through a consortium in which each member recorded a different sequence. Sentinel cells could surveil for specific sequences over long periods of time for applications spanning forensics, ecology and epidemiology.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.