Jeremy

=Researchers Take Step Toward Synthetic Life- New York Times.=

By [|ANDREW POLLACK]Published: January 25, 2008 Taking a significant step toward the creation of synthetic forms of life, researchers reported Thursday that they had manufactured the entire genome of a bacterium by stitching together its chemical components. Scientists had previously constructed the complete DNA of viruses, but this is the first time it has been done for bacteria, which are far more complex. The genome is more than 10 times as long as the longest piece of DNA ever synthesized. The feat is a watershed for the emerging field called synthetic biology, which involves the design of organisms to perform particular tasks, like making biofuels. Synthetic biologists envision being able to design an organism on a computer, press the “print” button to have the necessary DNA made and then put that DNA into a cell to produce a custom-made creature. “What we are doing with the synthetic chromosome is going to be the design process of the future,” said __[|J. Craig Venter]__, the boundary-pushing gene scientist. Dr. Venter assembled the team that made the bacterial genome as part of his well-publicized quest to create the first synthetic organism. The work was published online Thursday by the journal Science. But there are concerns that synthetic biology could be used to make pathogens, or that errors by well-intended scientists could produce organisms that run amok. The genome of the __[|smallpox]__ virus can in theory now be synthesized using the techniques reported on Thursday since it is only about one-third the size of the genome manufactured by Dr. Venter’s group. In any case, there are many hurdles to overcome before Dr. Venter’s vision of “life by design” is realized. The synthetic genome made by Dr. Venter’s team was not designed from scratch, but rather was a copy, with only a few changes, of the genetic sequence of a natural bacterium called Mycoplasma genitalium. Moreover, Dr. Venter’s team, led by a Nobel laureate, Hamilton O. Smith, has yet to accomplish the next — and biggest — step. That would be to insert the synthetic chromosome into a living microbe and have it “boot up” and take control of the organism’s functions. If that happened, it would be considered by some to be the creation of the first synthetic organism. The failure to achieve that tempered the reaction of some outside scientists to the announced achievement. “Right now, all they’ve done is shown they can buy a bunch of DNA and put it together,” said George M. Church, a professor of __[|genetics]__ at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Venter’s team last year reported successfully doing such a chromosome transplant, but it was with the natural genome of one type of Mycoplasma transplanted into another species of that bacterium. Dr. Venter said in a telephone news conference Thursday that each pair of donor genome and recipient cell presented unique problems. The scientists also think they interrupted the functioning of one crucial gene, a correctable problem. “It’s not a slam dunk or we would be announcing it today,” Dr. Venter told reporters. Still, he said, “I will be equally surprised and disappointed if we can’t do it in 2008.” The bacterial genome that was synthesized consisted of 582,970 base pairs, the chemical units of the genetic code represented by the letters A, C, G and T. The longest stretch of synthetic DNA reported in a scientific paper was about 32,000 bases long, though some companies say they have made ones with about 50,000. The machines that string bases together make many errors, so it is impractical to make a string of more than 50 to 100 bases at once. But some companies — the foundries of the biotechnology era — now make genes thousands of bases long by splicing the shorter strings. The Venter team ordered 101 such sequences, each 5,000 to 7,000 bases long, from these companies. It then joined them into ever-bigger pieces. Finally, four big pieces were put into yeast, which hooked them together using a natural gene repair mechanism. The process was started in late 2002, Dr. Venter said, and cost millions of dollars. That led some scientists to question why someone would want to synthesize an entire organism when existing organisms can be modified through genetic engineering. “To some extent, it’s something that was driven by ‘I want to be the first person to do it,’ ” surmised Jeremy Minshull, chief executive of DNA 2.0, a company that supplied some of the DNA stretches to the Venter team.
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090209122551.htm

Summary of article: Carolyn Bertozzi and others at the University of Berkely have discovered a new way to make recombinant proteins. Many proteins can be made or cultured in the plasmids or ring shaped vectors located within E.Coli. Insulin is produced this way for Diabetics. But, many proteins used as pharmaceuticals must be produced in Mammalian cells within the mammal. Proteins produced and reproduced with recombinant DNA are very useful for fighting against many diseases. Although the process of Protein Therapeutics is far from perfection, it is a step forward. Bertozzi uses an Aldehyde tag to mark a specific spot on the protein and uses many organisms in her process. The method of using these aldehyde tags and recombinant proteins is very simple, and can be very effective. This is an excellent way to produce pharmaceuticals and Bertozzi is confident in her procedure. The aldehyde tag method is able to label mammalian proteins as well as other forms of proteins. This is also effective because you can put anything you want onto the tagged proteins to be transferred. It has been tested to work on the most common types of cells and is very effective.

Study Guide for Science test on Genetic Engineering and biotechnology. Biotechnology is the use of organisms to aid humans in tasks. The human Genome is all of the genes mapped out in human DNA. Cloning is making an exact copy genetically of an organism. Cloning occurs through nature in twins and can also be made by humans using different techniques. Gene therapy is the use of genetically modifying people or getting rid of unwanted or adding wanted genes to humans. This can be extremely dangerous. GMOs, or genetically modified organisms are transgenic and can be used to enhance animals, use selective breeding, or change the appearance of an organism. DNA fingerprinting is used by using agarose gel and other methods like Electrophoresis to separate DNA and compare it to other DNA. Genetic markers are used so you can see the DNA in different sizes. Genetic variation is necessary for organisms to prevent them from procuring diseases that would wipe out entire populations on one strain of the virus. Conjugation is when bacteria replicates its DNA and then tranfers it to another bacteria using a bridge called a “pilus”. Transduction is when a virus infects a bacteria, replicates, and deposits its DNA or RNA in the bacteria. Transformation is when the bacteria picks up DNA from its surroundings and replicates it. These are all causes for genetic variation in bacteria. A clone is an organism with the exact same genetic material as another organism. It has the same result as asexual reproduction such as mitosis and Binary Fission. The steps of cloning are removing the nucleus from an embryo of an organism, replacing that nucleus with one of a selected organism, and implanting that embryo into a selected organism. Cloning can provide spare parts for an organism, and cures for diseases as well. Genetic Engineering is modifying and changing the genes of an organism by changing their genetic makeup. Scientists would use genetic engineering to make organisms show specific traits as well as make animals produce desired proteins. Restriction enzymes are used to cut DNA at desired locations at sticky or blunt ends. Sticky ends are cut in palendromic sequences. Other ends can be attached to them to form transgenic DNA, Gene splicing is the joining together of two different genes. Recombinant DNA is DNA that has genes from another organism in it. DNA Ligase is used to join genes together. Plasmids are a circular ring of DNA found in bacteria that can be used as a vector. Vectors are something that can transfer information/genetic material to other organisms fairly easily. They are used for recombinant DNA frequently and are very effective. To produce Insulin a plasmid is cleaved by a restriction enzyme. The gene that codes for the protein, Insulin is inserted into the sticky end and then spliced. That bacteria reproduces the Insulin to be given to diabetics. Transgenic organisms are organisms with genes from different organisms. You would genetically modify foods to produce the necessary proteins or nutrients for the person who would eat them. Examples of genetically modified foods to benefit humans are golden rice, corn, and other fruits and vegetables. Gene therapy is one of the most risky procedures in the world. It involves many things we don’t yet know about genes and can kill the patient undergoing it. The benefits of gene therapy are great such as finding cures for diseases such as cancer to the common cold and improving upon world health. Jeremy Schnapp