Biotechnology

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Biotechnology
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Biotech

• Commercial use of recombinant DNA.
• Genetic engineering.
• Transgenic organisms.

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Questions

• What are the tools?
• What has been done?
• What are some ethical concerns?

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Questions

• What are the tools?

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Biotech tools

• Plasmid circle of bacterial DNA, used to
  transfer genes.
• Vector modified plasmid or such.
• Sequencing determining the sequence!
• Restriction Enzymes cut DNA at specific
  sequences.

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RFLP Digestion withEcoRI
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DNA Fingerprint in Forensics
Q Which suspectshould beindicted?
A 3 is primesuspect
C SR CI E M NE E
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Suspects
Suspects
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Biotech tools

• Size separation
• Gel Electrophoresis, I.e. DNA gels, sequencing
  gels, protein gels.
• Identification Take the gel and transfer to
  special filter paper.
• Western blot protein, plus antibody probes.
• Northern blot RNA, plus probes.
• Southern blot DNA, plus probes.

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Biotech tools

• Cell culture, aka tissue culture.
• Cells are grown in petri dishes, in incubators,
  bathed in solutions (usually fetal calf serum,
  plus nutrients).
• Some cell types grow well, some dont grow.
• Often from cancers Henrietta Lane-Hela cells.
• CHO chinese hamster ovary cells.

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Biotech tools

• Bacteria and viruses are used to produce plasmids
  or proteins of our choice.

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PCR
PCR Amplifies small amounts of DNA
rapidly. Polymerase chain reaction Taq
polymerase from deep sea vents.
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Polymerase Chain Reaction(b) Multiple PCR Cycles
2 copies
4 copies
8 copies
DNAfragmentto beamplified
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Biotech tools

• Biochemistry chemical study of biological
  macromolecules.
• Columns and centrifuges are used for size
  separation.

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Biotech tools

• Antibodies-identification of proteins (including
  health tests), isolation of proteins, gene
  expression, protein location and function.
• GFP-gene expression, protein location and
  function.
• Microarrays-gene expression, large quantities of
  genes.

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Glow in the dark plants! (animals, too!)
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Questions

• What has been done?

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Biotech-apps
Knowledge! Medecines. Transgenics. DNA
fingerprinting.
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Knowledge-Antennapedia
NormalAntennae
Leg-likeAntennae
Fly Head (SEM)
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Knowledge Ancient DNA in amber Juraissic Park!
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Biotech-apps

• Knockout mice gene is gone. Often no effect!
• Redundancy!

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Biotech-apps

• Human Genome Project completed!
• LOTS of info!
• Also genomes of many other organisms.

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Biotech-apps

• Biotech companies.
• Medecines such as insulin produced for us by
  bacteria, for diabetics.
• Bay area includes Genenetech, Chiron, etc!
• Pharmaceutical companies.

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Biotech-apps

• Transgenic plants.
• Easier.
• Pest, herbicide, disease resistance.
• Ripening.
• Oil content.
• Vitamin A rice!
• Frankenfoods!!!

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Biotech-apps

• Transgenic animals.
• Pharming cows with special milk.
• Fatter, faster growing animals.

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Biotech-apps

• Gene therapy insert a good gene into the cells
  of a human, to cure an illness.
• Main problem so far delivery of genes to
  targeted cells.
• Limited success. Scid bubble boy.

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Biotech-apps

• DNA fingerprinting (RFLP) rewriting history!
• Forensics.
• Innocence project.
• History and natural history.

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Questions

• What are some ethical concerns?

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Bioethics

• DNA--- Human Being???!!!
• Essence of our identity
• What makes a human a human?!!!

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Bioethics

• Genetic Testing.
• Risk factors for incurable diseases.
• Medical Insurance, privacy issues.
• Consent issues.
• Can be done on fetus, child, adult.
• - Genetic counselors.

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Bioethics

• Only a small percent of diseases are caused by
  mutations in one gene.
• Cystic Fibrosis (CF) ?508
• -most with it get very ill
• -BUT a small number of people with it NEVER get
  ill
• - a small number of people with CF have NO
  mutation in the CF gene (huh?!).

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Bioethics

• At best, biology can only predict a RISK of
  having a certain illness (or trait!).

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Bioethics

• In vitro fertilization (IVF).
• selecting embryos.
• unused embryos.

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Bioethics

• Genes for being smart, funny, good-looking?
• Eugenics??!

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Bioethics

• Interspecies
• Transgenic plants and animals.
• Organs from other animals (pig heart valves).
• New diseases?

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Bioethics

• Stem cells and cloning.

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Bioethics

• Stem cells cells in the body which produce the
  differentiated cells. Not yet found for all
  tissues!
• Differentiated cells specialized cells,
  terminally or not.
• Embryos totipotent cells. Cells which can
  become any other type of cell (upon inducement
  with hormones). Sort of the UNIVERSAL stem
  cells.
• Aka embryonic stem cells.

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Bioethics

• Growing replacement organs/cells for ourselves to
  get around immune response.
• use stem cells
• use embryonic stem cells-easier.
• cloned embryonic stem cells?

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Bioethics

• Research on embryos.
• not once nervous system starts developing (day
  14).
• so far, no permanent altering of genes (just
  picking naturally occuring variations).

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Bioethics

• Therapeutic cloning clone embryo and use it to
  grow cells, tissues, maybe even organs. Also,
  could use adult cells.
• Reproductive cloning clone embryo and grow it
  into a baby.

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Bioethics

• Cloning
• Interphase 2n nucleus in inserted into an egg
  cell,bypassing sex and fertilization.
• No meiosis and no crossing over!
• Nuclear transfer.
• Note the nucleus comes from a mature,
  differentiated cell.

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Bioethics

• In the case of Dolly, the nucleus was from a
  differentiated mammary cell (of an already dead
  ewe). Note Dolly Parton!
• Many animals (frogs, mammals such as CC, a cat)
  have been cloned, but often have health issues.
  It takes hundreds of tries to get one viable
  embryo. Primates have been hard to clone.

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Bioethics

• Some thinking points
• What about identical twins?!
• Transgenics how many genes does it take to be
  human, a monkey, a rabbit? Goat plus sheep
  embryos geep.
• Cloning daughter is sister, clone your dead
  parent?
• IVF time warp twins, 5 parents.

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Bioethics

• Movie rec
• Gattaca!

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The end