Bacterial Microcompartments (BMCs) are used by diverse bacteria to compartmentalize enzymatic reactions, functioning analogously to the organelles of eukaryotes. The bounding membrane and encapsulated components are composed entirely of protein, which makes them ideal targets for modification by genetic engineering. In contrast to viruses, in which generally only one protein forms the capsid, the shells of BMCs consist of a variety of shell proteins, each a potential unit of selection. Despite their differences in permeability, the shell proteins are surprisingly interchangeable. Recent developments have shown that they are also highly amenable to engineered modifications which poise them for a variety of biotechnological applications. Given their modular structure, with a module defined as a semi-autonomous functional unit, BMCs can be considered apps for programming metabolism that can be de-bugged by adaptive evolution.

细菌微室 (BMC) 被多种细菌用来分隔酶促反应，其功能类似于真核生物的细胞器。结合膜和封装成分完全由蛋白质组成，这使得它们成为基因工程修饰的理想目标。与病毒相比，病毒通常只有一种蛋白质形成衣壳，而 BMC 的外壳由多种外壳蛋白组成，每种都是潜在的选择单位。尽管它们的渗透性不同，但壳蛋白令人惊讶的是可以互换。最近的发展表明，它们也非常适合进行工程改造，这使它们能够用于各种生物技术应用。鉴于其模块化结构，以及定义为半自主功能单元的模块，BMC 可以被视为用于编程新陈代谢的应用程序，可以通过自适应进化进行调试。