For most genes, proteins are the athletic embodiment of these professional activities. Our task as agents then, is to find the correct medium for these proteins to "show their stuff". Occasionally, we give them advice (mutations) and hopefully improve their game-sometimes.
As an agent, your first responsibility is to identify the league for which your particular client (protein) is best suited. There are, of course, the standard prokaryotic, yeast and mammalian leagues. Within the last few years, a number of expansion leagues have been added, including Baculovirus and specialized spin-offs such as viral systems. Beginning with this issue, we will take a look at expression vectors available for prokaryotic systems, particularly E. coli. This series will continue in later issues and will take a look at what the other franchises are up to.
As an expression system, bacteria have some good features as well as a few that can create ...
