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IES Ostippo

• How do you identify genes in a DNA sequence?

  Genes are initially identified as open reading frames (ORFs), that is, stretches of sequence delimited by a start and a stop signal (designated start and stop codon). Open reading frames are generally compared with other sequence in the data banks to identifiy similarities to other known genes that may indicate that they truly represent functional genes.

• What is directed evolution?

  You can find the answer to this question in article of our blog Tornillos y genes "Evolución Dirigida I. Reescribiendo la vida (in Spanish)" and then reach the next level in "Evolución Dirigida II. Debugging de un circuito genético (in Spanish)".

• If scientist can manipulate DNA, would it be possible to activate pluripotency and differentiate pluripotent cells?

  Actually this was achieved by Yamanaka et al. by first time in 2006 reprogramming somatic cells in pluripotent cells and then testing their ability to specificity a somatic linage. You can read more about it in the blog Tornillos y Genes: Celulas iPS

• Marta: Do you feel any moral concerns that the advances in Synthetic Biology could be used in a harmful way?

  Yes, SB could be used as a tool for unacceptable purposes in the same way that a knife it is really useful in the kitchen but dangerous in the hands of a killer. SB has a great potential, if we use it to create or to destroy depends on ourselves. Ethical commities are necessary to harness the potential of Synthetic Biology so it is not used for harmful or unethical purposes.

• Lualy: If the advances of Science allow living to people with severe diseases, wouldn’t be that a way to direct the evolution of humanity?

  Maybe, but this is what humanity have been doing during all the History. We take care of other human beings; we cannot think about the survival of the strongest when we talk about people.

• María: Don’t you fear that by genetically modiying some organisms you may cause an irreversible damage to nature?

  ynthetic biologists alter organisms, but they do it in a lab, a completely controlled place. Depending on the potential damage an organism could cause, labs must have different control mechanisms. If those genetically modified organisms are thought to work in an industrial or natural context then they must be designed for it. By now in Europe it is not possible to release genetically modified organisms in the nature, even to fight pollution, and scientists are studying the way to use them in our benefit without the release of new modified strains to the environment. On the other hand, most of the organisms we work with in the lab are engineered so that they would die quickly if accidentally released to the environment.

• Antonio: Is it possible to patent a living organism? Is it allowed that a company patents a living organism or a molecule that could save the life to people (in this case, only the people who have enough money could have access to this resource)?

  About patenting living organisms, it depends on the country. In the USA it is possible and the first organism patent was a Pseudomonas sp. strain designed to treat oil spills by General Electric in 1980. In Europe living organisms are not a patent matter and other places of the world have no clear rules about it.

  About patenting molecules which could save the life of people, Pharmaceutical companies works on that. Their work is to develop new drugs, vaccines or other medicines which allow us to resist some diseases and finally prolong our life. As you said only people who can pay for it can use the patented medicine, but this also depend on the public health policy of the country.

• Sergio Algarrada: Medicine, Pharmaceutics, Biochemistry, Geology… all these disciplines have clear goals. What is the goal of Synthetic Biology?

  Synthetic Biology is not a discipline of Science like those others. Actually it could be said that it is not a field of Science, it is a way to make Science. What defined SB are its characteristics: standardization, hierarchy, modeling, and quantitative measures; basically the same characteristics than define Engineering but applied to Biology. Another way to approach this issue is that the goal of Synthetic Biology is the same than Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering: to obtain products or services that were not available in nature by means of the genetic, biochemical and physiological modification of living forms; only this time manipulation is designed from the rules of Engineering.