BIOLOGY CLASS
This week in class we started our chapter on Molecular Biology, as you saw in the video I used to introduced the topic, one of the biggest scientific projects in the last few decades has been the sequencing of the human genome. As an international collaboration, The Human Genome Project was able to complete their work in less time than what they had predicted. Only a few decades ago the molecule of DNA was described by Watson and Crick, and their work published on the journal Science in 1953. In less than 55 years that molecule has been studied so much that we now have a map of all those "parts" called genes. In class I asked you, imagine what will happen in the next 55 years.
Well here's an article that can give you an idea of things to come. Scientists have been able to "build" an artificial or synthetic genome. They have put together a molecule of DNA from a species of bacteria using enzymes to attach small segments made from nucleotides. Although they still have some work to do to have an entity that shows signs of life, indeed this is a demonstration of the power of biotechnology.
What do you think? Is it right to be doing this? Why do you think these scientist are doing this? Isn't just easier to go and find the bacteria somewhere else and then use it for what ever purpose you need? Tell me what you think.
Researchers have rebuilt an entire genome from scratch, they report online today in Science. Although the team has yet to demonstrate that this DNA can substitute for the real thing, the work paves the way for customized bacteria that could efficiently produce drugs, biofuels, and other molecules useful to humankind. more
Source: ScienceNOW Daily News
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5 comments:
yea, scientist do this because dey want da money, lol, jk they are doing it for the greater good of the future and because they are good samaritans
Well edu/crakin don't lol too hard, do you really think they do this to be good amaritans only? The answer is NO, there is a lot of $$$ involved. Fortunately in the long run many people will benefit from this.
This is pretty ridiculous. Obviously there's loads of cash to be made on patenting the various process used to actually create the dna. As for the future, it could mean great things for the field of medicine if scientists were able to create organs from scratch. Then again, it seems to bring forward memories of Jurassic park. Somewhere, somehow this is going to go wrong, its only a matter of time.
This, like many discoveries in the same field, has an almost unlimited potential. While its usually healthy to maintain a usual level of skepticism, at this stage its better to imagine. Like ridge said, imagine the cures.
However, the Jurassic Park scenario is currently unfeasible (and unless a comprehensive understanding of the genome arises, impossible) Substituting frog DNA would lead to a catastrophic rate of failure that would produce maybe one animal per million attempts? Perhaps more? At this stage, exuberant idealism and imagination is what is required. Keep the potential high.
BTW. I think this blog thing is a great idea. You're reaching out to the students through a medium they understand to cultivate interest beyond the mere textbook material which is integral to the maintenance of America's standard in science in technology. Keep up the great work.
Ok I'm just gonna say that something really crazy about building your own genome is building something into a bacteria or another organism that through symbiosis can benefit the host so like something crazy for example Bioshock being an extreme case but in a more realistic fashion it would be something like in I Am Legend where they altered a virus that would be able to target cancer cells. I'm just saying the prospect of engineering beneficial organisms to live in symbiosis with humans would be a huge leap in medicine.
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