Monthly Archives: June 2017

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Around the age of 15, I began experiencing periodic bolts of searing pain shooting down the outer sides of my legs and up through my shoulder blades. The pain would occasionally grow so debilitating that I was forced to walk with a cane and could barely manage a flight of stairs. For sleepless months at a time, I would limp and grimace through my day. The worst part was that doctor after doctor was not able to diagnose the problem, and I resigned myself to a life of making the best of it.

Once I hit my mid-30s, I couldn't take it anymore and decided I had to do something about it. I tasked myself to keep seeing doctors untilsomebodycould tell me what the problem was. After plowing through a series of specialists, I eventually found my way to a rheumatologist who diagnosed me with an inflammatory condition, which isn't exactly fully understood by science, calledAnkylosing spondylitis(spells just like it sounds).

Now, this condition can be treated somewhat with a special diet (please don't send me any info on the subject -- I know), but the food restrictions are pretty harsh and results in my case weren't always consistent. But as it turns out, modern science has another fix.

My rheumatologist recommended that I begin a regimen of a type of medicine known as a biologic (or sometimes a "biopharmaceutical"), which is seeped directly from living organisms. I put a lot of trust in science and technology's ability to make the world a better place, so I was open to seeing what this cutting-edge treatment could do for me.

And I am happy to say that after a month or so, the treatments worked -- in fact, they worked far better than I could have possibly imagined. I've been almost totally pain-free for the past two years and even taken up running. (I should note that the medication I was on came with some serious potential side effects -- most notably, they decrease your body's immune system, including the ability to fight certain cancers. Just speaking for me, the trade-off was worth it.)

Now, this medication was unlike any other I had taken -- I had to inject it. Most second-generation biologics used to fight inflammatory conditions have to be introduced directly into the body through a syringe or via an IV. I had to learn to use a disposable epi-pen like contraption, which I keep stored in my refrigerator. There was a learning curve, but not a sharp one (and it certainly helped that I am not at all squeamish when it comes to needles).

So, what is this magic goop I inject into my body? It comes from natural sources, but at the same time -- there's really anything natural about it.

Scientists have been deriving medicines from living organisms since forever -- just about every vaccine you've taken can be considered a biologic. However, the scope of these medicines have boomed in recent years with the advent of genetic-manipulation techniques.

While the exact definition of "biologic" varies from regulatory body to regulatory body, the term is often used today to refer to newer classes of drugs resulting from techniques that tweak cells at their fundamental genetic level to turn them into living factories.

According to the FDA'sown description, "In contrast to most drugs that are chemically synthesized and their structure is known, most biologics are complex mixtures that are not easily identified or characterized." Many of these second-generation biologics (ones that have popped up in the past 15 years or so, as opposed the first-gen ones like vaccines) are not recreatable -- by humans. We just don't know how. However, scientists can use modern genetic-manipulation techniques to cajole living cell cultures to do it for them. Therein lies a wrinkle to the biologic story -- they can be insanely expensive.

The manufacturing of these medicines is a complex undertaking -- particularly on an industrial scale. Not only is there gene manipulation, but the cellular cultures are particularly susceptible to contamination and must be maintained under very aseptic and strictly temperature-controlled environments -- all of which must take place under the supervision of a highly trained workforce. When you consider that the patient pools are relatively small, prices inevitably rise.

I can only speak for myself and say that these drugs have been a godsend and truly improved my quality of life. But I'm also fascinated (and even humbled) to consider how this treatment would not be possible without decades of scientific inquiry that took place before it.

The line of scientific history -- down through Darwin, Mendeland the team of Watson & Crick -- had no idea it would one day help a middle-aged tech blogger not have to limp in pain for months at a time. They all just wanted to know the answers to weird and impractical questions.

This is why I get annoyed when I hear politicians wanting to balance budgetson the backs of scientific research. While there are ways to best use research dollars, their benefit is invaluable -- just not always immediately (quantum physics took decades to find a use in the function of smartphones, as it took years for Einstein's theories to be used insatellite configuration).

There is no way we can predict how the impractical research of today will affect some major breakthrough years down the line. That's why we should all want our tax dollars to fund inquiry into weird, unnecessary questions like "Do gravitons exist?," "What does Pluto look like?," or "Is the whole universe a hologram?" Answering those questions might not necessarily bring us a new breakthrough today -- in fact, they probably won't. But they leave us with the promise that they will someday.

See the article here:
How Genetic Engineering Fixed My Stupid Back - Entrepreneur

Added on June 23, 2017 The News Wheel algae , biofuel , corn , Exxon , Green driving , renewable energy source , soybeans

So far the biofuel game has belonged to two cropscorn and soybeans. But, a third organism is ready to play. Kind of.

According to Bloomberg writer Jennifer A Dlouhy, after eight years of painstaking work, researches from J. Craig Venters Synthetic Genomics in collaboration with Exxon (a relationship which started in 2009) may have finally found a way to turn algae into a viable biofuel source.

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Algae, which has been on scientists radars for a long time now as a biofuel candidate traditionally lack enough oils and fats that a viable biofuel source requires; corn and soybeans have whats needed, but algae is a more sustainable option because it can grow in salt water and thrive under harsh environmental conditions.And the oil contained in algae potentially could be processed in conventional refineries, according to Dlouhy.

Through advanced cell engineering, the team from J. Craig Venters Synthetic Genomics has reported that they were able to more than double the fatty lipids insidea strain of algae, reports Dlouhy.

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After depriving algae of nitrogen, the scientists were able to pinpoint the single gene tasked with monitoring the amount of oil the algae produces.

Using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique, the researchers were able to winnow a list of about 20 candidates to a single regulator they call it ZnCys and then to modulate its expression, according to Dlouhy.

The advanced cell engineering increased the typical oil production of algae10 to 15 percentto over 40 percent, reports Dlouhy.

Although this is a critical breakthrough and a much needed step in the evolution of algae into a viable biofuel source, commercialization of this kind of modified algae is decades away, according to Dlouhy.

News Source: Bloomberg

Link:
Genetic Engineering May Make Algae a Real Biofuel Contender for ... - The News Wheel

If you had to come up with a short list for the greatest advancements in technology that have been made in the last decade, youd be hard pressed to place anything in front of the progress weve made in the world of genetics. For most of us, its been decadesyears since we took Biology 101 and wed be hard pressed to remember anything we learned were supposed to have learned.It seems like there is a spectrum where on one side you have people like us that are brain dead when it comes to the most basicgenetic concepts, while on the other hand you have people injecting themselves with viruses to live longer. The goal of this article is to provide some basic insights into genetic technology by proving clarity on the terminology. Well start with the very basics and make sure to conceptualize these concepts using real world analogies.

Your body contains trillions of cells which make up the physical you. Each one of these cells has a blueprint that is completely unique to you, called your DNA. Your DNA is just along ladder-shaped molecule that looks like this:

Source: Wikipedia

So that strand contains the entire set of instructions needed to recreate you. Some day well be able to take someones DNA and plug it into a software program that creates a digital you and we can see what drugs you will best respond to and why. If you took all the information stored within your DNA and put it into phone books, this is how many phone books you would need:

So far thats pretty straight forward right? Basically your DNA is this big set of instructions which explains how you turned out.Every single physical attribute you have is contained within that set of instructions. There is even speculation that your DNA can help explain your intelligence, but then everyone gets upset and says we shouldnt go down that path, mainly because they dont want to find out that maybe they got the short end of the stick in the genetic lottery. Its much easier to post articles on Medium talking about how offended you are about everything than it is to pick up a science book and start learning.

In order to read all that information on your DNA, we use machines (usually from Illumina) that dogene sequencing. (A gene is a distinct stretch of DNA that determines something about who you are). Gene sequencing is where we can go through and laboriously read every single character in your DNA and then store it in a big file. Not all genetic sequencing is the same. You can sequence some or all of a DNA strand and still extrapolate useful information from it. Now weve actually reached a price point where we can sequenceyour entire genome (a genome is your complete set of genes) for just $1,000:

Now, if wetake a strand of DNA and cut it into a bunch of segments, each segment is called a gene. When we talk about how you have your fathers eyes, that means the short segment of DNA that dictates eye color was passed on from your father. When we say people have good genes, it means that all those segments gave them the best attributes (or what each society sees as the best attributes). On a side note, there is actually a tribe called the Nacirema that believes obesity is the norm and idolizes it as a thing to be proud of, so thin isnt in for everyone.

Now that we know that a gene dictates certain attributes about you, what if we couldchange genes in order to start changing your attributes? This is now possible using a technology called gene editing.This is where we are able to precisely snip sections of DNA from the strand and then replace them with our own snippets (startups like Twist Bioscience are creating millions of these snippets). You may have read about something called CRISPR which is one popular method used for gene editing.

While its still early days, all kinds of companies are trying to land grab as much intellectual property as possible relating to gene editing. If were able to start changing genes, were essentially able to start creating synthetic life forms. This is what we refer to as synthetic biology. Check this out:

Those are the first genetically modified pets, glow in the dark fish. Yes people, fish that glow in the fcuking dark. More of a cat person you say? Well glow in the dark cats arent too far behind:

Glowing Cats that Fight AIDS

Scientists over at the Mayo Clinic created glowing cats 6 years ago for AIDS research though the Koreans had already mastered this feat over 10 years ago.

Now you may think to yourself that the concept of genetically modifying things ishardly new. Havent people been complaining about genetically modified organisms (GMO) for decades now? They certainly have, and heres a nice infographic that shows how more than 50% of people do not want to buy GMO food:

What most people dont know though, is because 94% of soybeans are GMO, and soy is contained in many processed foods, youre all eating GMO whether you like it or not. The fact that GMO has been subjected to such strong public backlash has raised obvious concerns from companies and investors looking to turn the world upside down with gene editing. A recent article by the New York Times reflected on this fact:

The current regulations were written for the earlier generation of genetically modified organisms, where scientists used bacteria and viruses typically from plant pests to drop a payload of new genes into the nuclei of the plant cells where they merge with the plants DNA. That worked, but scientists could not control where the new genes would be inserted, and that led to worries of potentially dangerous genetic disruptions or crossbreeding with non-G.M.O. crops.

GMO didnt just use the method mentioned above, but other methods as well like literally injecting the DNA directly into a cells nucleus. Note that all these methods fall under the envelope of genetic engineering. Consequently, gene editing is just another form of genetic engineering.

So lets review people.

From an investors perspective, understanding the background is very important. You dont want to spend 100s of million investing in a synthetic biology startup only to find that someone wrote a viral article on Medium about how horrible your GMO technology is and before you know it, youre all over the news, your investors are bailing, and your CEO resigns. While these risks exist, the U.S. needs to be very careful. Lots of other countries dont have people protesting every other day. They just get on with their business and now theyre even doing gene editing at the germline. When the day comes where theyve fully mastered how to control intelligence through genetic engineering, humankind isgoing to be in for one wild ride.

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GMO vs Gene Editing vs Genetic Engineering - Nanalyze