Synthetic Biology Therapies And Treatment Of Infectious Diseases And Cancer Therapies

Some of traditional drugs may be effective in patients whose cancers have a specific molecular target, and not for other patients. To solve this problem of patient-specificity, pharmaceutical research have seen the expansion of individually tailored cancer treatment, which is an application of targeted therapy, and this is where biopharmaceuticals are. As an increasing part of the population is diagnosed with cancer and as these patients live longer, increasing care will be given to patients who have received these drugs. Moreover, in the case of cancer therapy, those drugs and especially with mABs are a promise of less side effects : recombinant DNA technology makes it possible to genetically engineer an antibody to reduce the risk of host immune response.

Many doctors, physicians, researchers and biotech companies--including the revolutionary Seattle Genetics research facility--are now turning to antibody-assisted cancer treatments and precisely targeted cures instead of treating cancer with a cocktail of chemicals and radiation that generate risky side effects and damage the healthy tissue that patients need to recover. Cancers are among the most frightening and difficult-to-treat illnesses. Ranked as the leading cause of death and disability, cancer is actually an umbrella term that covers many different diseases. Each person faces a unique disease because cancers interact with the body's existing cells, so each case has a

Transferring A Naked Mole Rat Gene To A Bacteria To Create a Treatment For Cancer

The article “Bacterial snack attack deactivates a drug” by Christian Jobin discusses how the presence of certain bacteria among cancer cells can pose complications with chemotherapy. Jobin begins the article by giving a brief explanation of the importance of bacteria naturally found in the human environment. Jobin continues to explain the significance of these bacteria writing “our bacterial population contains millions of genes encoding enzymes that can process substances that have been derived from nutrients or the environment, or that have been administered as drugs.” Therefore, bacteria play a very crucial role in maintaining normal body functions.

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.

In addition, many of the drugs available to treat infectious disease actually originate from bacteria and fungi. In Biology, constant inquiry of the mechanisms of life lead to new discoveries every day. Clearly, microbes are very important for studying and understanding our world. Dr. Henkin stressed their importance in the seminar, specifically the study of bacteria and bacteria’s manipulation of gene expression.

There has been research conducted that shows how the treatment can be worse than the actual ailment or disorder. In the early 1900s surgeon and researcher William Coley, put a passive bacteria into one of his cancer patients, which became known as the “Coley’s toxin (Nybo, 2015).” The toxin caused the tumor to reduced in size and the patients who took the medication remained cancer-free. When other studies were done it showed that having the anti tumor showed that several bacteria selectively attach to a solid tumor. The bacteria attached itself to the tumor cell which killed off some of the tumor cells and showed that using a bacteria, in this case the Salmonella bacteria that it can help make an improvement finding a cure for cancer. With different bacteria’s tested, one of the more promising bacteria was Salmonella enterica that showed a good sign of being used for cancer treatment. However using the bacteria can cause some other problem like food poising, it usually happens after you have eaten bad food that has either spoiled or can also occur if meat is not fully cooked. However new research studies done have shown with some modifications the Salmonella bacteria can actually reduce or kill the cancer cell. In another study done in Senior Siegfried Weiss decided to reduce the Salmonella enterica by getting rid of some of the Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) synthesis which is essentially a molecule where lipids and polysaccharides are linked together. LPS can cause sepsis

If I could develop my own organelle to put inside a eukaryotic animal cell, the organelle would fight cancer. This organelle would be surrounded by lipid bilayer to keep its own strong chemicals inside. The chemicals would kill the cancer, eventually being processed out by the body as

The complexity of the human anatomy is what limits us from witnessing what we currently think of as impossibilities. Rather, the lines which currently bound us are genetics; the root of the problem being the human DNA. A tough code to crack, the genes which make up DNA can, in some people, restrict a positive reaction to a drug intended to cure an ailment. Providing only one type of medication to a group of people with the same disease will always result in a handful of successes and failures. If given the technology to read a patient’s genetic sequence, doctors can modify a drug specifically to the patient’s needs, equating to a 100% success rate. The study of personalized medicine can change every treatment into one which works. Thus, removing

Gene doping is an extension of gene therapy. Though, instead of injecting DNA into specific cells for the purpose of repairing the function to a damaged or missing gene, gene doping involves implanting DNA for the purpose of enhancing athletic performance. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), an international organization created in 1999 to "promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against doping in sport in all its forms," defines gene doping as the "nontherapeutic use of cells, genes, genetic elements, or modulation of gene expression, having the capacity to enhance performance" (World Anti-Doping Agency, 2008).

Immunotherapy is a form of medical treatment intended to stimulate or restore the ability of the immune system to fight infection and disease. This can be by inducing, enhancing, or suppressing an immune response. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as activation immunotherapies, while those that reduce or suppress immune response are suppression immunotherapies. Active immunotherapy has been effective against agents that normally cause acute self-limiting infectious disease. However, a more effective immunotherapy for chronic infectious diseases or cancer requires the use of appropriate target antigens; the

The intervention of biotechnology in life takes two forms of therapy and enhancement. Andrew Lustig, author of the article Enhancement Technologies and the Person: Christian Perspectives, defines both accordingly, saying that “therapy is generally defined as the prevention or cure of disease, or as the restoration or approximation of return to normal physiological function. Enhancement is defined as the alteration of individual (or group) characteristics, traits, and abilities (both health- and non-health-related) beyond a measurable baseline of normal function” (41). Therapy is focused on restoration of our integrity while assisting natural physiology, whereas enhancement is focused on alteration of our physiology. For example, say a

The word science comes from the Latin word "to know" (Science Made Simple, 2014). In

In 1995, a team led by Venter sequenced the genome of Mycoplasma genitalium, a bacteria with smallest complement of genes capable of growth in laboratory.

If I told you there was an organism that can sniff out it’s victim, approach it, infect it, and cause cancer, would you believe it can also genetically modify it’s hosts to incorporate beneficial novel genes? Agrobacterium tumefaciens is an unsung villain/hero that is in fact, capable of such amazing things. Agrobacteria tumefaciens is a bacterium that parasitizes plant tissue, and causes what is often referred to as “crown gall”- yet it is more the virally- reminiscent mechanism through which this occurs than the physical deformity itself that is of interest. Agrobacterium tumefaciens is motile and utilizes chemo taxis paired with its intrinsic secret weapon- the Ti plasmid- in order to accomplish gall formation. Not only is the pathogenesis of this bacteria fascinating, but it moreover leaves scientists with the opportunity to employ certain abilities of A. tumefaciens to engineer crops- rendering Agrobacterium tumefaciens very integral to modern agriculture, and future research. However with great power comes great responsibility, and we will see yet, through examining the characteristics and mechanisms of Agrobacterium tumefaciens whether it is a villain, or a hero!