A Research Study On Synthetic Biology

Biotechnology, at its simplest is technology based on biology – it employs the use of cellular and bimolecular processes to develop products and technologies. The variety of living cells used for their biochemical talents range from simple singled-cells bacteria and yeast to complex multi-cellular organisms, such as plants and humans. Over the years, biotechnology has been a rapidly developing area of

Along with this, he volunteers at a local hospital in the city, helping to improve the Calgary community. Science and biology have been an integral part of his entire life and have served as a source of inspiration. Over this past year, iGEM has provided him with the chance to further explore the field of synthetic biology along with connecting him with like minded people and peers.

ROCKVILLE, MD and San Diego, CA (May 20, 2010)— Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit genomic research organization, published results today describing the successful construction of the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell. The team synthesized the 1.08 million base pair chromosome of a modified Mycoplasma mycoides genome. The synthetic cell is called Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 and is the proof of principle that genomes can be designed in the computer, chemically made in the laboratory and transplanted into a recipient cell to produce a new self-replicating cell controlled only by the synthetic genome.

Humanity has now reached a critical moment in its existence where the prospect of emerging biotechnologies

By using a set of techniques that change specific amino acids encoded by a cloned gene, proteins with properties that are better suited than those of naturally occurring counterparts can be created by therapeutic and industrial application. Theoretically, these changes can be made out either the protein or the gene level. However, chemical modifications of proteins are generally harsh, nonspecific, and required repeatedly for each batch of proteins, so it is preferable to manipulate the DNA sequence of a cloned gene to create an altered protein with novel properties.

Already, the editing of human DNA is possible. Technologies like Crispr, which allow scientists to copy and paste parts of one strand of DNA onto another, have become cheap and commonplace. This has allowed for numerous advances in medicine, including the development of life saving drugs. Now, scientists are creating technology that could use entirely synthesized rather than copied DNA for editing. The Genome Project-Write (GP-Write) is currently working on synthesizing the DNA of humans. Within the next few years, the initiative plans to have synthesized all genes in the human genome. This would allow large rewritings of DNA, thereby opening possibilities for treating and preventing disease as well as creating cells and organs.

In the article “Almost-Earth Tantalizes Astronomers With Promise of Worlds to Come” scientists discover a planet known as Keplar-186 which could possibly have life. The Keplar-186 is the closest planet to Earth that could have life, but the planet is 500 light years away and has a red dwarf star as its sun. Whereas the article “‘Without Doubt,’ a Sixth Mass Extinction Event is Here” explains of how another mass extinction is likely to occur. The article further explains how if present conditions continue then it will take millions of years to recover life. Although, not all researchers are focusing on ecological or exobiological studies. In the article “Synthetic biology: edging toward the clinic” explores the ideas of how humans can manipulate cells in a rational fashion to cure diseases. Also, the article also explains of the difficulties with However,

Jellyfish (Aequorea victoria) naturally produce GFP (Zupen et al. 2004) allowing for extraction of the organisms genes and protein to engineer a bacteria that can produce GFP. Scientists are able to blind a bacterial species for example E. coli with GFP by cloning the genes found within jellyfish that produce Green Florescent Protein and insert it into a chosen bacterial species (Zupen et al. 2004). Through the expression of the GFP gene in other organisms, synthetic biology can be

For example, back in 1970s, researchers created synthetic genetic material and incorporated it into bacteria in manufacturing life-saving products useful to mankind, such as insulin. What makes HGP-Write new is the

When scientists figured out in the 1970s how to clone and engineer genes, they were amazed and eager to begin their experimentation. The first experiments were done with simple organisms such as bacteria. They would cut out the segments that gave the disease directions and fix it with a healthy functioning gene.

The computer is one of the greatest gifts from science. If we check history, “computer” was just a name of a job title. That name has transferred to a machine as we see computers in this generation. Then, Scientists have invented biocomputers with systems included to build out of genes, proteins, cells and O.R. operations. Biocomputers have become so advanced over the past few years. In 2000, first big innovations came to Boston University by James Collins and his colleagues. They have stitched together inhering genes to make a genetic switch. Also, synthetic biologists performed all basics Boolean operations of digital logic by creating genetic parts. In 2011, researchers programmed cells to communicate with each other through chemicals. Synthetic Biologists aimed to see the abilities of cells to run some programmes that they designed by biocomputers.

To begin, synbio technology is becoming a necessity in the biomedicine and pharmaceutical industry. Synthetic biology therapies has been developed for the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer, as well as approaches in vaccine development (Ruder et al., 2011). As Ruder et al. (2011) have discovered, effective synthetic biology therapies can been rationally designed and constructed to alter mechanisms underlying disease and related biological processes. In the process of developing synthetic biology for prevention of infection, bacteriophages have been manipulated to attack bacterial strains by disrupting antibiotic defense mechanisms. The development of these synthetic biology therapies is essential in preventing widespread of diseases which may be unstoppable using other means. In the case of cancer treatment, synthetic biology plays an even more important role. Despite the success of modern cancer therapies, the major therapeutic interventions- surgery, radiation and chemotherapy- still causes considerable damage to healthy tissues in cancer patients. In this aspect, synthetic biology is no longer merely an alternative, but more of a necessity as we “need new cancer treatments that precisely distinguish between diseases and healthy cells” (Ruder et al., 2011). With synthetic biology, synbiologists are able to engineer bacteria to target and invade only cancer cells, programming the invasion to occur only in specific vivo conditions, as well as engineering bacteria

With only a 20-year history, genetic engineering is only a young science with much uncertainly relativity compared to other fields. Much of the elements bioengineering studies and experiments, the DNA genome and sequence, are still unknown to the scientific community. Changes in genes greatly transform the condition, structure, and essence of an organism, giving us an entirely different and unnatural creation. Even when the physical effects are barely noticeable or deemed safe and ethical, these modified creations’ effects on the environment are impossible to predict and will only emerge when the damage done becomes evident to the human population. Though a large unknown looms over modifying genes, bioengineering industries insist upon dismissing the scare over genetic foods with the vast potential “miracle” foods can benefit upon human society.

This is the introduction and presents the problem the paper addresses. Now a team from the Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany, by tapping the DNA synthesis expertise of the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), has reverse engineered a biosynthetic pathway for more effective carbon fixation. This novel pathway is based on a new CO2-fixing enzyme that is nearly 20 times faster than the most prevalent enzyme in nature responsible for capturing CO2 in plants by using sunlight as energy. The study was published in the November 18, 2016 issue of Science. "We had seen how efforts to directly assemble synthetic pathways for CO2-fixation in a living organism did not succeed so far," said Tobias Erb of MPI, who led the study. "So we took a radically different, reductionist approach by assembling synthetic principal components in a bottom-up fashion in a test tube "The team started with several theoretical CO2-fixation routes that could result in continuous carbon cycling. But they didn 't stop there. "We did not restrict our design efforts to known enzymes, but considered all reactions that seemed biochemically feasible," Erb said. Unlike DNA sequencing, where the language of life is read from the genome of an organism, DNA synthesis entails first the identification of a particular genetic element -- such as an enzyme for fixing carbon from the atmosphere -- and writing and expressing that code in a new system.

Direct manipulation of DNA focuses on selective breeding, altering organisms to achieve higher quality products and more of them. These improved