E. coli engineered to make low-calorie sugar from glucose
Scientists at Tufts University have tweaked E. coli bacteria to turn regular glucose into tagatose—a rare sugar that's almost as sweet as table sugar but with far fewer calories.
Their new method gets up to 95% yield, a big jump from older ways that only managed 40-77% and needed expensive ingredients.
How did they pull this off?
The team reversed a natural pathway using an enzyme from slime mold, letting the bacteria make galactose from glucose, then convert it into tagatose.
This clever shortcut means cheaper and more efficient tagatose production.
What's so great about tagatose?
Tagatose is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the US FDA, is associated with very low increases in blood glucose and insulin, and even helps fight cavity-causing bacteria while supporting gut health.
You can use it in baking just like regular sugar—and it's found naturally in small amounts in dairy and fruit.