Introduction%20to%20Biotechnology%20and%20Drug%20Development

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Introduction to Biotechnology and Drug Development

• BIO 37
• Michael G. Walker

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• Ph.D. Stanford University
• Medical Computer Science
• Dissertation on DNA sequence analysis
• Consultant for Pharma Biotech
• Roche, Affymetrix, Incyte
• Renovis, Expression Diagnostics, Genomic Health
• Consulting Professor, Dept. of Medicine

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• 30 patents for disease-related genes and
  sequence analysis methods
• 30 publications
• New England Journal of Medicine
• Lancet
• Genome Research
• Gene Function and Disease
• 3 FDA-approved New Drug Applications

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Syllabus
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What are genes?

• Genes are the instructions on how to build
  humans, worms, viruses, and all life.
• They are the control program, like software that
  runs a robot.
• Genes direct the synthesis of proteins.

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What do genes do?

• Make our eyes blue or brown
• Make peas green or yellow, smooth or wrinkled
• Determine if we have head, arms, wings, tail,
  legs, brains
• Determine what we eat
• To a large degree, determine how we learn,
  behave, how if we reproduce.

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• Every cell in our bodies contains the same genes
  as every other cell.
• Only some of our genes are turned on (expressed)
  in any tissue (muscle, brain).
• Every human has the same set of genes as every
  other human.
• with a few exceptions

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• Each gene is slightly different between any two
  people.
• These differences change the instructions on
  exactly how to make a particular protein.
• with a few exceptions

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What are proteins?

• Some proteins are building blocks (structural
  components)
• Some proteins catalyze or regulate the creation
  of other building blocks

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Types of proteins

• Structural proteins
• Muscle, skin, cartilage
• Regulatory proteins
• Insulin, human growth hormone
• Transport proteins
• Hemoglobin, lung surfactants