Genetic Subversion

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The next major explosion is going to be when genetics and computers come together. I'm talking about an organic computer - about biological substances that can function like a semiconductor.

Alvin Toffler

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http://www.gmwatch.org/

Our dreams of growing spare human organs in pigs soon to come true

Just keep chugging down that cherry soda and smoking like a champ. Japanese scientists say they'll be able to grow human organs in animals within a year, with the establishment of new guidelines that will allow the practice. Human stem cells would be implanted into a pig embryo to create a "chimeric embryo" that could grow into a healthy, bouncing baby beast with a human organ to be harvested when the animal matures. Professor Hiromitsu Nakauchi, of the University of Tokyo, said his team had already successfully injected rat stem cells into mouse embryos. "We can apply the same principles to human stem cells and pigs," he said. Sounds to us like a bad way to ruin good bacon

Scientists unveil tools for rewriting the code of life
New technology from MIT and Harvard can edit DNA at the genome scale, giving cells novel functions.

MIT and Harvard researchers have developed technologies that could be used to rewrite the genetic code of a living cell, allowing them to make large-scale edits to the cell’s genome. Such technology could enable scientists to design cells that build proteins not found in nature, or engineer bacteria that are resistant to any type of viral infection.

The technology, described in the July 15 issue ofScience, can overwrite specific DNA sequences throughout the genome, similar to the find-and-replace function in word-processing programs. Using this approach, the researchers can make hundreds of targeted edits to the genome of E. coli, apparently without disrupting the cells’ function.

DNA consists of long strings of “letters” that code for specific amino acids. Every organism uses the same genetic code to translate those letters into amino acids, which are then strung together into proteins.

Kickstarter crowd gives glowing plant the green light

With a month still to go, the project has raised $243,000 (£157,000). Its initial goal was $65,000. Backers are promised seeds for glowing plants, although delivery will not be until next May at the earliest. The "biohacking" team behind the project said that in future trees could act as street lights. The researchers are keen that their mix of DIY synthetic biology and sustainable lighting remains open-source. "Inspired by fireflies... our team of Stanford-trained PhDs are using off-the-shelf methods to create real glowing plants in a do-it-yourself bio lab in California," said project leader Antony Evans. "All of the output from this project will be released open-source, the DNA constructs, the plants etc," it said on its website.

Woolly mammoth discovery raises exciting possibilities

The recent discovery of a well-preserved woolly mammoth carcass and mammoth blood on a Siberian Island has the potential to "raise the ceiling" on scientific research on extinct species, say Canadian researchers who work with mammoth DNA.

"There's what looks to be fairly well-preserved blood, which leads to the possibility that there's intact blood cells," said Kevin Campbell, a University of Manitoba physiologist who was contacted this week by the Russian researchers who found the mammoth and was asked to collaborate with them.

The researchers from the Research Institute of Applied Ecology of the North at North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, Siberia, are eager to work with Campbell because he has previously used mammoth DNA to get bacteria to generate the mammoth version of hemoglobin — the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen.

Campbell's study, published in Nature Genetics in 2010, found that the mammoth hemoglobin has adaptations that make it much better at delivering oxygen at cold temperatures than the hemoglobin of the mammoth's close living relatives, elephants. That may have helped mammoths survive the extreme climate of their Arctic environment.

Read more @ http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/woolly-mammoth-discovery-raises-exciting-possibilities-1.1386398

GMO VIRUSES

Could a Designer Virus Turn You Into a Monster?

Viruses are back terrorizing victims on Fringe, and they're as vicious as ever. Two weeks ago mysterious killers used super-size cold viruses--and questionable science--to murder prominent epidemiologists, and in last night's episode, "The Transformation," a deadly virus turned its victims into unrecognizable monsters. The first victim is flying on a plane when the change starts as a nosebleed, and then kicks into high-gear when he convulses and huge spines shoot out of this back. Once the man becomes a half porcupine/half wolfman, he terrorizes the plane until it crashes. The Fringe team finds his body at the crash site, so mangled that rescue workers thought he was an animal, not a human.

According to lab analysis by Walter and Peter Bishop, the mad scientist and his son, the transformation is caused by a "designer virus" that completely re-wrote the victim's DNA, changing all the internal organs and turning him into a monster. Fringe gets at least one part of the case correct when Peter says, "this stuff doesn't exist in nature."

The closest real-world example to the bizarre affliction in "The Transformation," as far as physical appearance, might be elephantiasis, the tropical condition in which a person's skin thickens and their limbs or gonads can swell up to incredible sizes. But though elephantiasis can be a horrific condition, it doesn't turn its victims into totally unrecognizable forms, and it isn't caused by a virus. Lymphatic filariasis, the proper name of the disease that causes elephantiasis, is typically caused by a parasitic worm that mosquitoes plant into a person. Either through the growth of the parasites themselves or the immune system's response to them, the person's fluids become backed up and their lower limbs can swell enormously, without medical attention.

Viruses, however, don't tend to manifest themselves with substantial outside physical changes, much less the grotesque mutations seen on the Fringe victims, according to University of California-Irvine virologist Bert Simler. There are only a few cases where viruses produce noticeable changes to the body's exterior at all, he says. Mumps is one--it is a viral disease, and can result in a clear swelling of the victim's throat area. The human papilloma virus, HPV, can cause warts on the skin. And smallpox produces visible pockmarks and nasty, fluid-filled pustules on the skin. "But if you live long enough, the pustules eventually fall off," he says.

That's about it for viruses causing exterior physical changes, Simler says. Other viruses can cause swelling on the inside of the body--encephalitis, for example, causes a dangerous swelling of the brain. "But it's all contained within the skull," he says. Other particularly threatening viruses, like paralysis-causing polio, show little outward sign of their presence, he says. So while many viruses can cause you harm, don't look for them to transform you into a raging, murderous porcupine/wolfman.

Could a Virus Rewrite Your DNA? But what about the genetics claim in "The Transformation," that the virus mutates the host's DNA to change its host into monsters? There is a speck of real science in there, says Harvard University virologist Donald Coen. Retroviruses, the class that includes HIV, use the DNA in their host cell to replicate, then leave behind their genetic information in the host. "There are lots of examples in animals," he says. And Coen says it is possible to manipulate retroviruses. Some scientists hope to use them as a vehicle to get genetic material into cells, he says, by piggybacking the useful material onto the virus and then allowing the virus to copy its genetic material into the cell.

However, that kind of research is in early stages, Coen says. And though Peter Bishop says during "The Transformation" that a person would need to know cutting-edge genetics to create the killer virus, Coen says the Fringe scenario is far past the real capabilities of current genetic engineering--no virus could rewrite your entire genetic code.

Finally, this week, Fringe might have put to bed--at least for a while--one of our favorite bits of suspect science: the memory tank. Agent Olivia Dunham had some of her former partner John Scott's memories transferred into her own mind, and in previous episodes she's gone back in the tank to seek more answers from him. This happens again in "The Transformation," but at the conclusion Walter Bishop says her mind has expelled the last of Scott and her brainwaves are back to normal. So hopefully Dunham won't have to stick electrodes to her forehead and get back in the water anytime soon.

Scientists Create Hybrid, Air-Transmissible Bird Flu Strains

The most recent bird flu strain claimed another victim today, bringing the number of dead to 27, all in China. So far 127 people have fallen ill, and world health authorities say the new H7N9 flu is a global threat that should be taken seriously. The strain, which has been transmitted from chickens to humans, is so far unable to move from person to person. But scientists are figuring out how other strains could. The journal Science is publishing two papers today that describe the mechanisms avian flu viruses could use to alter their structure and spread among mammals, including humans. One of the papers studied guinea pigs, which are not necessarily the best way to study the human response to flu—but studies on ferrets, which are a good proxy for people, were halted by a year-long moratorium. That hiatus recently ended, so more papers in this vein are likely to follow.
Read more @ http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-05/how-genetic-mixing-and-atomic-shuffling-could-make-bird-flu-more-potent-people

Scientists slam 'appalling irresponsibility' of researchers in China who deliberately created new strains of killer flu virus

Professor Hualan Chen, director of China’s National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory at Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, deliberately mixed the H5N1 bird-flu virus, which is highly lethal but not easily transmitted between people, with a 2009 strain of H1N1 flu virus, which is very infectious to humans.The researchers claim the work could help develop a vaccine.'The work of Zhang and colleagues provides a framework for further studies examining how the structure of the avian flu virus influences how readily it could transition to being a pathogen with human pandemic potential,' Science Express, the journal which published the research, said. The study, which was carried out in a laboratory with the second highest security level to prevent accidental escape, resulted in 127 different viral hybrids between H5N1 and H1N1, five of which were able to pass by airborne transmission between laboratory guinea pigs.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2318866/Scientists-slam-appalling-irresponsibility-researchers-China-deliberately-created-new-strains-killer-flu-virus.html#ixzz2gDFkywWX

'Appalling irresponsibility': Senior scientists attack Chinese researchers for creating new strains of influenza virus in veterinary laboratory

They warned there is a danger that the new viral strains created by mixing bird-flu virus with human influenza could escape from the laboratory to cause a global pandemic killing millions of people.

Lord May of Oxford, a former government chief scientist and past president of the Royal Society, denounced the study published today in the journal Science as doing nothing to further the understanding and prevention of flu pandemics.

“They claim they are doing this to help develop vaccines and such like. In fact the real reason is that they are driven by blind ambition with no common sense whatsoever,” Lord May told The Independent.

GMO FOOD

Meet 'Schmeat': Lab-grown meat hits the grill this month

A hamburger patty made from lab-grown meat — or "schmeat" — is expected to be unveiled and grilled later this month at an event in London that is highly anticipated by animal rights activists and other backers.

"The vision for this burger is really to attract support, to attract funding," said social sciences researcher Neil Stephens in an interview with CBC's The Current host Anna Maria Tremonti. "And I'm sure it will because it's a very enticing idea for many people."

U.S. investigating rogue GM wheat found in Oregon field

"An escape that hasn't been noticed for this long period of time, I think, is unlikely," he said. "But certainly, the investigators are looking at all possibilities." The wheat variety was genetically engineered by the agricultural technology company Monsanto to be resistant to the common pesticide RoundUp. The company tested it across the U.S. in the early 2000s, but decided there wasn't enough of a market for the product, and abandoned its commercialization efforts completely by 2005, Flowers said. The discovery of the GM strain has prompted Japan to suspend shipments of white winter wheat from Oregon, a state that exports 90 per cent of its wheat.

DESIGNER BABIES

Genetically Altered Babies Born

Scientists have confirmed that the first genetically altered humans have been born and are healthy. Up to 30 such children have been born - 15 of them as a result of one experimental programme at a US laboratory. But the technique has been criticised as unethical by some scientists and would be illegal in many countries, including the United Kingdom. Genetic fingerprint tests on two one-year-old children confirm that they contain a small quantity of additional genes not inherited from either parent. The additional genes were taken from a healthy donor and used to overcome the infertility problems of the mother.

The world's first genetically modified humans have been created, it was revealed last night. The disclosure that 30 healthy babies were born after a series of experiments in the United States provoked another furious debate about ethics. So far, two of the babies have been tested and have been found to contain genes from three 'parents'. Fifteen of the children were born in the past three years as a result of one experimental programme at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St Barnabas in New Jersey. The babies were born to women who had problems conceiving. Extra genes from a
female donor were inserted into their eggs before they were fertilised in an attempt to enable them to conceive.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-43767/Worlds-GM-babies-born.html#ixzz2g2IR5n5q

Report: First Genetically Altered Babies

Researchers in New Jersey claim that 30 human babies might have been born with genes from three people: their mother, their father — and a third person, whose genes were added in the laboratory. The researchers call their experiment "the first case of human … genetic modification resulting in normal healthy children. "The team at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St. Barnabas in West Orange, N.J. was trying to help infertile
women become pregnant. In each of the 30 cases, something in the mother's egg had prevented her from conceiving naturally. So St. Barnabas researchers
extracted material from cells donated by a third woman. This additional material from the donor's cell somehow allowed the egg to become fertile. Their first success of having a child born with this cellular transfer technique was published in a medical journal in 1997. But an analysis of the genetic consequences of the method in two babies was only reported in March, in the journal Human Reproduction. DNA tests on two of them show they have a small number of genes that are not from their parents. The genetic status of the other 28 babies is unknown. The different genes come from DNA contained in mitochondria — little organs inside cells that create the energy to do life's work. They contain DNA — only about 0.03 percent of the total DNA — so they can make copies of themselves when cells divide. The other 99.97 percent of a cell's DNA comes from the nucleus and the 23 pairs of chromosomes.
A number of scientists question the ethics of the experiment. For the first time, they say, it has been confirmed that children have been born with genetic alterations.

Creating Babies With DNA From 3 Parents: U.K. May Allow Controversial Technique

LONDON -- Britain may allow a controversial technique to create babies using DNA from three people, a move that would help couples avoid passing on rare genetic diseases, the country's top medical officer says.

The new techniques help women with faulty mitochondria, the energy source in a cell, from passing on to their babies defects that can result in such diseases as muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, heart problems and mental retardation. About one in 200 children is born every year in Britain with a mitochondrial disorder.

For a woman with faulty mitochondria, scientists take only the healthy genetic material from her egg or embryo. They then transfer that into a donor egg or embryo that still has its healthy mitochondria but has had the rest of its key DNA removed. The fertilized embryo is then transferred into the womb of the mother.

Read more @: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/28/babies-with-dna-from-3-parents_n_3516000.html

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Gen-PETS

Pet cloning is the cloning of a pet animal. The first commercially cloned pet was a cat named Little Nicky, produced in 2004 by Genetic Savings & Clone for a north Texas woman for the fee of US$50,000. On May 21, 2008 BioArts International announced a limited commercial dog cloning service through a program it called Best Friends Again. This program came on the announcement of the successful cloning of a family dog Missy, which was widely publicized in the Missyplicity Project. In September 2009 BioArts announced the end of its dog cloning service. In July 2008, the Seoul National University created five clones of a dog named Booger for its Californian owner. The woman paid $50,000 for this service. Science fiction depictions of cloning often create the impression that clones emerge full-grown from machines, are indistinguishable from their predecessors, and have even had their predecessors' minds "downloaded" into them. However, while an animal clone has the same genes as its genetic donor, behavior is influenced by environment and experience as well as by genetics.

Some critics accuse pet cloning proponents of encouraging prospective pet cloning clients to falsely expect that their new pets will be indistinguishable from their old pets. Defenders of pet cloning argue that pet cloning does not contribute to pet homelessness, the animals involved are treated humanely, it makes people happy, there is a demand for it, it will contribute to scientific, veterinary, and medical knowledge, and it will help efforts to preserve endangered cousins of the cat and dog. They also claim that cloning is no more inhumane than breeding. In 2005, California Assembly Member Lloyd Levine
introduced a bill to ban the sale or transfer of pet clones in California. However, it was voted down.

In popular culture
The fictional company Repet clones pets in the movie The 6th Day (2000)

Joyce McKinney had her pet dog Booger cloned, as shown in the 2010 documentary Tabloid

The Dark Side of Pet Cloning

Anyone who wants to have their pet cloned should ask themselves if they are willing to have one or two defective copies of “Fluffy” or “Spot” put down in order to get their pet back. Of course, cloning is associated with lots of abnormalities and genetic defects–and a significant percent of newborn animals die in the first few days or weeks of life.

Anyone who thinks they might be able to get Spot or Fluffy back is mistaken. Cloned animals have distinct personalities, just like identical twins. We cloned a herd of cattle several years ago–they were all cloned from a single individual. Yet they developed a social-dominance hierarchy just like a herd of ordinary dairy cows. The cloned animals exhibit the full spectrum of behavioral traits, from curious and inquisitive to timid and shy. There’s no doubt about it: each cloned animal has its own unique, individual personality.

Revealed: Ordinary laboratory animals are outnumbered by GM counterparts for first time

The number of genetically modified (GM) animals used in scientific research in Britain has exceeded the number of ordinary laboratory animals for the first time, according to official statistics that show a 9 per cent overall increase in the use of experimental animals last year. Some 4,033,310 animals were used in scientific experiments started in 2012, an increase of 322,689, or 9 per cent over the previous year. There were 1.91 million scientific "procedures" used with GM animals in 2012 compared to 1.68.m procedures on normal animals. The number of animal experiments increased by just over 8 per cent, to 4.11m procedures. The vast majority involved laboratory mice, with much of the increase due to the creation and breeding of GM animals, or "animals with harmful mutations", according to data released by the Home Office.

Back from the dead: Couple who paid $155,000 to CLONE their dog after his sudden death

Cloned Puppies: Sure, They're Cute, But at What Cost?

When skin cells from a dead pit bull named Booger gave rise to five healthy-looking puppies with a $50,000 price tag, it marked the formal beginning of a commercial dog-cloning industry. But for all the attention given to these and other clones, little was paid to the behind-the-scenes science. For every successfully cloned animal thrust into
the spotlight, how many failures were quietly ushered out of sight? "What we're seeing with the clones they present are the ones that look good," said Jaydee Hanson, an animal-cloning analyst at the Center for Food Safety, a Washington, D.C.-based liberal nonprofit. In March, the U.S. Humane Society and American Anti-Vivisection Society
released a report castigating pet cloning for "serious
animal suffering and disreputable activities."

Read more @ http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/08/dog_cloning?currentPage=all

'Super clone' sniffer dogs: Coming to an airport near you?

Incheon, South Korea (CNN) -- A small army of elite, highly trained clones are sent on a mission to root out drugs and ammunition from the city. Every few hours they report back to their masters, to whom they've been devoted since birth. But this isn't the set of a low-budget sci-fi flick; it's the departure lounge of South Korea's Incheon Airport, where seven "super clone" sniffer-dogs have been dispatched in the war against contraband luggage. The pack of golden Labrador Retrievers are all genetically identical to "Chase," whose legendary snout kept him top of Incheon's drug-detection rankings right up until his retirement in 2007. But now after years of training, the new class is following in their genetic donor's paw-prints, consistently outperforming the rest of South Korea's naturally born sniffers in the hunt for heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines.

Brazil to clone its endangered species
Brazilian researchers are turning to cloning to help fight the perilous decline of several animal species. The scientists at Brazil's Embrapa agriculture research agency said this week they have spent two years building a gene library with hundreds of samples from eight native species, including the collared anteater, the bush dog, the black lion tamarin, the coati, and deer and bison varieties, as well as the maned wolf.
While still in its early stages, with the birth of a clone likely years away, the project represents Brazilian scientists' first foray into the cloning of wild animals, said team leader Carlos Frederico Martins. Scientists in other parts of the world have been cloning threatened species for more than a decade, though with a low rate of success, and sometimes with the criticism of conservationists who say more should instead be done to save endangered animals in the wild by protecting their natural habitats.

Brazilian bush dog

Brazilian lobo-guara, also known as a maned wolf,

10 Ways Science is Using Human-Animal Hybrids