°_° \\Biology 0
Last updated
Last updated
In this course we talked about biological design as a creative and transdisciplinary practise that is open to all. Access to the means of experimentation for the investigative and applied sciences will not only change the way we understand and describe the world but also bring forth new knowledge, designs and engineering practices. Through the course, researchers will learn how to identify microorganisms, how to take samples and prepare cultivation medias, how to observe microscopic organisms and to design with DNA
In class we talked about Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Multicellular. Each of these fields is interconnected and often overlaps with the others, contributing to our overall understanding of life, health, and disease.
Biochemistry: The study of chemical processes in living organisms, focusing on biomolecules like proteins, DNA, and lipids, and how metabolic reactions occur in cells.
Molecular Biology: Focuses on how genes are structured, replicated, and expressed at the molecular level, including processes like DNA transcription and protein synthesis.
Microbiology: The study of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc.), their biology, and their roles in health, disease, and the environment.
Multicellular Biology: Examines the organization and function of multicellular organisms, including how cells differentiate into specialized types, form tissues, and work together to create organs and systems.
Trough this studies we understand, thanks to Nuria, how Physiology is in a reciprocal relationship with cultural evolution; If we didn't had this sofisticate and complex systems we wouldn't have life, is all about specific information for specific task. This is Genetic Engineering's field, where trough an action you could create a new life-beings; we just design the place of cells but after that they do all the things. An extraordinary examples is CrispCasp9, amazing how the biology can change the lifes !!! Nuria open our eyes in a new field, change the world thanks biology. The details could done the difference in this world.
Also we talked about the Scientific Methods, in Italy we used to study this for years and years, but here I find interested the main topics about this methods, namely repeat and documentation are so important in a experiment.
In class we tryied to grown some bacteria from some bacteria basis' different Nuria recipes. All the mixture were put in many petrins, Nuria suggest us to put inside different things (like nails, hair etc.) Unfortunaly the bacteria didn't grown because the conditons of the enviroment (our class) weren't so good and specific for bacterias growth.
In my petrins I put some of my catarrh plus sugar, but I wasn't luky and it doesn't grown nothing. Other guys were more luky and grown something, but they were only a few. WE HAVE TO CARE ABOUT THE IGINE CONDITIONS OF MATTER LAB.
Nuria takes a lessons about spirulina, what is and how grown it. She show us varius practies and way to grow spirulina. It is amazing, you could grow a ton of spirulina in a really short period and has a lot of Kcal (more than meat). Now I don't have space in my tiny Barcellona's house, but when I will have more space, why not ?
strange to eat, but more and less good flavor...
I was initially hesitant to do this assignment because I've been struggling with the ethics of gene editing. I'm especially concerned about editing genes in non-human organisms, where the long-term global consequences are unclear. I'm also nervous about editing human genes because it could lead to eugenics. I don't feel confident enough about these topics to believe my actions would have a positive impact and not cause serious, unintended harm. What I will do probably (for the majority) couldn't be very ethical, but I mean is just a speculative excercise.
My work about design a genetically modified organism is about , thanks to CRISPR Cas9, try to make the pigeon digest plastic waste around the cities/country side. It couldn't be so ethical because someone could say that pigeon doesn't want to eat plastic and we are just using their to solve our problem.
I start with some researchs: how is possible digest plastic and wich animal can digets plastics. I figured out that enzym are what I need, enzym is: enzyme, a substance that acts as a catalyst in living organisms, regulating the rate at which chemical reactions proceed without itself being altered in the process. Instead there are a lot of organism that are evolving to digest plastics as a way to survive in Plasticocene era. What I find is several organisms have been identified for their ability to digest down plastics:
Zophobas morio (superworm) larvae can digest plastics like polystyrene (styrofoam) with the help of gut microorganisms.
Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6 is a bacterium that breaks down PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastics by using enzymes (PETase and MHETase) to degrade the polymer into monomers.
Pestalotiopsis microspora, a fungus, can degrade polyurethane plastics, using enzymes to break down polymer chains under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.
Rhodococcus bacteria can degrade various plastics like polyethylene and polypropylene through enzymes that break down polymer chains into biodegradable fragments.
I decide to work with Rhodococcus bacteria and Pigeon, so in a poor words I want to take the enzyms present in the first one and try to insert it in a common city's birds.
Now the process for insertion is split in 4 different step:
Identify the Gene: Find the genes in Rhodococcus that produce the enzymes you want to insert into pigeons. Here some of that: Hydrolytic Enzymes, Degradative Enzymes, Antibiotic-Producing Enzymes and Lignin-Degrading Enzymes.
Design CRISPR System: Create a CRISPR-Cas9 system with guide RNAs that target specific locations in the pigeon's DNA for enzyme gene insertion.
Deliver CRISPR-Cas9: Introduce the CRISPR system into pigeon cells using methods like viral vectors or microinjection.
Incorporate and Express: Ensure the inserted gene is properly integrated and expressed in pigeons, using regulatory elements (like promoters) to activate the gene. Some promoter that could help are: Constitutive Promoters like CMV, EF1α, or chicken β-actin (for broad expression), Tissue-Specific Promoters like albumin, villin, or cytokeratin (for expression in specific tissues) and Inducible Promoters like the Tet system (for controlled expression).
Other way, less complicate and maybe more ethical.
Microbial Symbiosis: Instead of directly inserting the genes into pigeons, you could explore whether it's possible to introduce Rhodococcus bacteria into pigeons' microbiomes. These bacteria might produce the enzymes in the pigeon's digestive system or feathers, potentially avoiding the need for direct genetic modification.
Gene Therapy: Another option is to use gene therapy techniques to introduce the enzyme-producing genes into pigeons, without altering their germline (reproductive cells). This would limit the changes to specific tissues, rather than being inherited by future generations.
