 They were able to rescue an auxotroph lacking the ability to produce "p"-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), a precursor to folic acid by using a ruthenium catalyst.The success of these aforementioned approaches suggests that microbial growth and activity can be controlled and utilized for various chemical production applications.A recent achievement (2019) of the Balskus lab was elucidating the mechanism by which the genotoxin, colibactin, damages DNA.