if you could choose what biologists accomplish in your lifetime, what would it be?

If you could choose what biologists accomplish in your lifetime,

what would it be?

Ways in which biology is changing our future…in the present

Traditional genetic engineering

• Selective breeding

•What is it?

•What are the advantages (pros) and disadvantages (cons)?

•What is your opinion?

Modification of organisms viaselective breeding vs. transgenesis

• Note the vector of choice is a plasmid

Cell transformation and Transgenic organisms

• Review all pros and cons

Example: Genetically Modified Foods

(“Frankenfoods”?)

“Currently, up to 45 percent of U.S. corn is genetically engineered as is 85 percent of soybeans. It has been estimated that 70-75 percent of processed foods on supermarket shelves--from soda to soup, crackers to condiments--contain genetically engineered ingredients” (?)What are the concerns to health? To environment?

This diagram shows how one type of GM food, a strawberry that resists frost damage is made. The flounder is a fish that live in icy seas. It has a gene that stops it from freezing to death.Strawberries are soft fruits that can easily be damaged by frost.

1. The flounder’s antifreeze gene is copied and inserted into a small ring of DNA taken from a bacteria cell.

2. The DNA ring containing the flounder gene is put into a second bacterium.

3. This second bacterium is used to infect the strawberry cell. The flounder’s antifreeze gene enters the strawberry’s DNA.

Strawberry cell with Antifreeze gene4. The new GM

strawberry cell is grown into a GM strawberry plant which can be bred many times.

Thanks to the new gene, GM strawberries make a protein which helps them resist frost. They don’t contain any other fish genes and, and do not taste or smell of fish.

How a flounder gene ends up in strawberries

RoundUp Ready corn – before and after RoundUp herbicide spraying

Ex.: Vaccines in Fruit

Hepatitis B vaccine has been inserted into tomatoes and bananas. Why is this so important?

Ex: Mice with GFP, just because we can

How GFP got into the mouse

1. The jellyfish has a gene that makes a glowing protein. This makes the jellyfish glow in some types of light.

2. The glowing gene is taken from a jellyfish cell and spliced (inserted) into an empty virus cell (with no bad virus in it)

3. The genetically engineered virus attaches itself to the fertilized mouse egg cell.

4. The virus delivers the glowing gene into the egg cell nucleus, where it joins the mouse DNA.

5. The genetically engineered mouse egg grows into an adult mouse which will make the glowing protein. The glow is too faint to see under normal lights but can be detected using a special camera.

Virus

Jellyfish cell

Mouse cell

Virus inserting their DNA into a cell

More GM organisms

Using the jellyfish protein to make a naturally glowing Christmas tree!

Genetically engineered moths that pass on deadly disease genes to their relatives so they die and won’t be able to destroy crops!

Adding a gene from insect killing bacteria to cotton so that insects who eat cotton will be poisoned!

A gene from a spider has been inserted into some goats. Their milk now contains tiny strands of spider silk which can be made into a strong, stretchy rope.

RNAi therapy

• A.k.a. RNA interference– (see NOVA Science Now video)

Cloning

Click here to clone a mouse yourself:http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/

• The small cat is a clone of the large one – What does this tell us?

– You can clone your cat for $40,000

Stem cell therapy• embryonic stem cells that are

isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts

• adult stem cells are found in various tissues and naturally heal the body

• Specialized cells (Unipotent) vs.– Multipotent – Pluripotent– Totipotent

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/stemcells/scintro/

Custom-built organs

Gene therapy• Mechanism: Gene therapy using an Adenovirus vector. A new gene is

inserted into an adenovirus vector, which is used to introduce the modified DNA into a human cell. If the treatment is successful, the new gene will make a functional protein.

Gene therapy and gene doping

• What are the ethical objections to improper gene “therapy”

Will We Be Able To Cure Cancer With Gene Therapy?

Lung cancer cells (530x). These cells are from a tumor located in the alveolus (air sac) of a lung.

Cancer happens when body cells grow out of control. Scientists have found a gene called p-53 which normally keeps cells under control. They think that in some people with cancer, the disease begins because the p-53 gene doesn’t work properly – perhaps because of a mistake in the gene code. Experts are now looking for a way to cure cancer by modifying faulty DNA to make the p-53 gene work.

Custom-built babies• Gender choice• Germ line therapy

• Designer offspring? (watch 2 clips including GATTACA) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/genome/program_t.html

Click here to learn more: http://www.bionetonline.org/English/Content/db_cont5.htm

Epigenetics, and why DNA is NOT your destiny

Learn more at these links:

Interactive instruction from the University of Utahhttp://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/

Article in Time magazinehttp://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1951968,00.html

For more information on all of the aforementioned

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/