Tag: biotech

Molecular biology class

we are making a banana smell generator. the first steps were to clone the necessary genes so we can later splice them into the host yeast. the cloning uses PCR via a thermal cycler. we then check the results of the cloning using gel electrophoresis. this also serves to separate the cloned genes from others in the solution: since molecules of different weight travel at different speeds in the gel. you can just cut the gel into stripes to isolate the molecule you want.

Synthetic Biology 5.0

All in all, Synthetic Biology is substantially more … substantial. It was like a normal scientific meeting. About science. No stunts from “civil society” groups looking for their next fear bullet point for fundraising. No government officials proclaiming SB as the economic future of their city/state/country. Just science.

less hype and more results / applications

Reverse Engineering Superbugs

You can see that the gene for PBP2_ECOLI has a 100% match inside the genome of O104:H4. Now that we have this list, we can answer some interesting questions, such as “How many of the known drug resistance genes are inside O104:H4?” I find it fascinating that this question is answered with a shell script: cat uniprot_search_m9 | awk '{if ($3 > 99) { print;}}' | cut -f2 |grep -v ^# | cut -f1 -d"_" | cut -f3 -d"|" | sort | uniq | wc -l The above script tells us that 1138 genes are a 100% match against the database of 1378 genes. If you loosen the criteria up to a 99% match, allowing for 1 or 2 mutations per gene — possibly a result of sequencing errors or just evolution — the list expands to 1224 out of 1378.

grepping the genome of e.coli for cure clues

Artifacial

Artifacial expression is an art and research project that investigates the computer-controlled human face as a medium for kinetic art and develops algorithms for facial choreography. Small precisely controlled electrical currents are employed to stimulate the facial muscles of a live human person into rendering involuntary expressions. As the human face is controlled by a computer instead of the brain, it can be made to perform in unexpected ways, bringing together dance and technology in the most direct way imaginable.

facial hacking with electricity

Exosome drug delivery

the blood-brain barrier blocks delivery of many molecules that do wonderful things if injected directly into the brain, but injecting the brain isn’t quite as convenient as injecting a vein. Exosomes are lipid vesicles manufactured by cells for transporting diverse molecules to other cells, including signaling molecules such as micro RNAs. Now, they’ve been shown to carry their contents across the blood-brain barrier, and other work has shown that exosome-like particles can be made synthetically, with membranes chock-full of functional molecules for targeting cells and inducing responses from them. With diameters of 30 to 100 nm, exosomes have room for a lot of payload.

a boon for brain pharmaceuticals