Kelly and Adams are first going to try to assemble the needed metabolic pathways in less extreme bugs like e. coli bacteria.

FORBES

This approach combined with the complexity of biological systems restricts current, one-off efforts to modifying only a small set of genes and constructing simple, isolated genetic circuits and metabolic pathways.

FORBES: DARPA Builds First Bio-Engineering Factory

Although many of the genes encoding El Tor's pathogenic machinery were already known, the new sequence does reveal a number of unexpected metabolic pathways that may prove useful for drug development, according to Dr Mekalanos.

ECONOMIST: The cholera genome

Anyone who knows feces from shoe polish about pharmacology knows that two chemically distinct compounds, despite the fact that they interact with a common target, often interact very differently (including not at all) with non-target metabolic and physiological pathways.

FORBES: New Type Of Diabetes Pill "Likely Dead," Says Goldman Sachs