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• IES Maestro Don José Jurado Espadas

IES Maestro Don José Jurado Espadas

• Does Synthetic Biology raise concerns on health or moral grounds?

  Synthetic Biology is not a field of Science devoted to health issues. It is a swet of methods aimed to work in Biology the way they do in Engineering. In the worst case scenario, everything can be used to cause damage. Although this is not a goal of SB and there must be control mechanisms to prevent scientist misconduct that may result in health, environmental or moral damage.

• Would it be possible to insert human genes in a fish so it may breathe out of the water? (Callum Chapple)

  The respiratory system is too complex to be reproduced in a foreign organism as of today or in the near future.

• Is it hard to mix Biology and Engineering?

  Frankly, yes. Engineers are used to work with very high accuracy, to known the behavior of every part inserted in a circuit, to models that reproducibly mimic the real syste. Biology is an experimental science dealing with complex natural systems: living beings. This means that it is almost impossible to know how a biological system works before trying; and even then it is difficult to measure accurately the parameters that define the behavior of the system. Engineers work in human-designed, rational systems and biologist in nature-designed systems where randomness is always present and even when it is possible to isolate a part to measure is properties, these will surely change depending on the biological context. Synthetic Biology based on parts is trying to bridge the gap setting standardized parts and hierarchy levels but this is still running.

• How did you get involved in Synthetic Biology? (Francisca Elena López Pérez)

  Thanks to iGEM. It was our opportunity to learn beyond our degree, to get practice in the lab (wet and dry) and feel responsible of an entire project. Then we learned about Synthetic Biology and got hooked by the way it deals with scientific projects.

• I have read that the problem of albinos is that they cannot synthesis melanin. Could Synthetic Biology help these people?

  Why not? A microorganism which synthesizes melanin is a conceivable project in Synthetic Biology. It would be necessary to analyze this particular disease and study the best solution, which may or may not be to synthesize melanin. Synthetic Biology could definititely be a way to work in the solution to this problem.

• How do you obtain fluorescent molecules from jellyfish?

  Fluorescent proteins such as GFP were originally identified in jellyfish and other organisms. Nowadays, the genes for several of these proteins are cloned and can be expressed (meaning the proteins can be produced) in many organisms, including bacteria, fungi, plants and animals

• What is the limit of Synthetic Biology?

  By now the limit is technical. It is difficult to build a genetically engineered machine that works the way you expect it. And it is hard to characterize each singular part and the system as a whole.

  But if you mean the ethical limit, it is defined by each scientific team; having in mind the limits of legality. When we talk about synthetic living forms we must analyze advantages and disadvantages and the ethical limits are set by the society in which we live.

• How did Synthetic Biology start? Was it by necessity or by chance?

  By chance, the chance that some engineers felt challenged to change their field of work to Biology and felt that their Engineering approach could be a new useful way to study Biology.