MetaFilter posts tagged with genetics and biology

synthetic biology

kliuless — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:23:24 -0800

Our biotech century: the noocytes are coming... (previously)

A sea of green

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:33:49 -0800

"Algae is the ultimate biological system using sunlight to capture and convert carbon dioxide into fuel... I came up with a notion to trick algae into pumping more [fuel] out." Craig Venter's Synthetic Genomics partners with ExxonMobil in a $600M project to harvest biofuels from genetically engineered algae. "We have modest goals of replacing the whole petrochemical industry." [previously] "Over the next 20 years, synthetic genomics is going to become the standard for making anything. The chemical industry will depend on it. Hopefully, a large part of the energy industry will depend on it. We really need to find an alternative to taking carbon out of the ground, burning it, and putting it into the atmosphere. That is the single biggest contribution I could make."

prehistoric woof

Pants! — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:42:14 -0800

The Village Dog Project is an ongoing research project to document genetic diversity in pariah dogs. These dogs haven't been subject to breed pressure, and may be able to help researchers learn more about the transition from wolf to dog. (via)

Discover Your Inner Frankenstein

amyms — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:23:52 -0800

"In Massachusetts, a young woman makes genetically modified E. coli in a closet she converted into a home lab. A part-time DJ in Berkeley, Calif., works in his attic to cultivate viruses extracted from sewage. In Seattle, a grad-school dropout wants to breed algae in a personal biology lab. These hobbyists represent a growing strain of geekdom known as biohacking, in which do-it-yourselfers tinker with the building blocks of life in the comfort of their own homes." They might be discovering cures for diseases or developing new biofuels, but are their experiments too risky? Via. Additional links from the article: "In her dining room lab, Meredith L. Patterson is trying to develop a bacteria that will glow green to signal the presence of melamine." "This home experiment for extracting DNA from strawberries [YouTube video] uses a zip-lock bag, a glass, detergent and some strawberries." "Read more about Katherine Aull's experiment in her closet lab." "DIYbio Group co-founder Mackenzie Cowell explains some of the initiatives [Vimeo video], and the community lab the group is setting up in Cambridge, Mass." Related: The Biohacking Hobbyist Biohacking: The Open Wetware Future The Open Biohacking Project

Do they preserve scientific transparency, protect profits or both?

zarq — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:16:38 -0800

On behalf of medical organizations, universities, & individual patients, pathologists and genetics researchers, the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Utah-based Myriad Genetics and the US Patent and Trademark Office. Myriad holds the US patents to the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, associated with hereditary causes of breast and ovarian cancers. Their patents guarantee the company the right to prevent anyone else from testing or studying those genes, which the ACLU says is unconstitutional and inhibits researchers from finding treatments and cures. The ACLU has posted a FAQ explaining the suit. It might be news to some that genes, gene fragments and the tools used to assess them can be patented. Here's some general info on patent eligibility and qualifications. Some question whether such patents spur or stifle research Myriad's BRCA test to measure the likelihood that someone would develop ovarian or breast cancer was in the news a couple of years ago, when a study revealed that it produces false negatives. Concerns were also raised in the EU over the patents when they were initially filed. Previously on MeFi

The Genomic Self

homunculus — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:48:16 -0800

My Genome, My Self: Steven Pinker considers what we can expect from personal genomics. Searching for Intelligence in Our Genes: Carl Zimmer looks at the hunt to learn about the role of genes in intelligence.

The gene is in an identity crisis

homunculus — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:30:39 -0800

Now: The Rest of the Genome. "Only 1 percent of the genome is made up of classic genes. Scientists are exploring the other 99 percent and uncovering new secrets and new questions."

How We Evolve

homunculus — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:16:29 -0800

How We Evolve: "A growing number of scientists argue that human culture itself has become the foremost agent of biological change, making us — for the past 10,000 years or so — the inadvertent architects of our own future selves." Recent acceleration of human adaptive evolution (previously). International HapMap Project (previously). The Genographic Project (previously).

retrovirally transforming pancreatic cells from adult mice into insulin-producing beta cells

kliuless — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:51:39 -0800

Scientists Repurpose Adult Cells - "Scientists have transformed one type of fully developed adult cell directly into another inside a living animal, a startling advance that could lead to cures for a variety of illnesses and sidestep the political and ethical quagmires associated with embryonic stem cell research." [nature abstract, nature writeup, audio announcement]

GATTACA

Kronos_to_Earth — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:38:27 -0800

The first ever, it is believed, has been produced at Cornell University. The feat was apparently much overlooked, and has many concerned over the lack of public debate of this field of research. Genetically modified human embryos.

"Big Bird says it's time to wake up..."

saulgoodman — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:24:15 -0800

A new round of genetic tests has confirmed it: The 'big lizards' of our childhood fantasies were more likely 'big birds.' In fact, they probably even had feathers, and looked more like this than this. Mind blowing, I know, but I guess this demonstrates that, despite what some may think, science really doesn't have a problem admitting that it got something wrong when new evidence comes to light.

Neanderthal-Human Babies

wantwit — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:24:42 -0800

Any admixture would have to be driven by male Neanderthals. Two years ago we discussed morphological evidence of nontrivial interbreeding. Since then Neanderthal DNA has been examined for genetic support for this model of human evolution, largely contradicting the belief in Neanderthal contribution to modern humanity. Indeed any contribution from the Neanderthal gene pool to the evolution of modern humans might be very rare and indeed it appears that the best candidate gene thus (MC1R) far likely was a result of convergent evolution. EXCERPT: It is now clear that the level of interbreeding between the two populations, if any, was so low that we are unlikely to find any neutrally evolving Neanderthal alleles in modern populations. However, it is possible that low levels of interbreeding could have led to the adaptive transfer of some alleles between species (introgression). Beneficial alleles can persist in interspecific hybrids even when the hybrids are less fit than either parent population as long as the hybrids are fertile [37]. As hybrids back-cross to a parent population, most introduced alleles will be lost to drift or to negative selection; some beneficial alleles, however, may be maintained in subsequent generations. Claims have been made for adaptive introgression from Neanderthals into populations of modern humans at the microcephalin [38] and the tau [39] loci. Some proponents of the multiregional model have gone so far as to suggest that adaptive introgression was a primary source of beneficial alleles during the evolution of modern humans [40]. While we regard this latter idea as unsupported by the available Neanderthal and human genome sequences, it is worth considering the possibility that a very limited amount of adaptive introgression has occurred. MC1R is a good a priori candidate for adaptive introgression. It is thought that light skin is favored in Europe as a compromise between the need for vitamin D synthesis and the need to prevent folate photolysis, both caused by UV radiation [41]. Several genes affecting skin color are known to have been positively selected in European populations [21,22], though studies of MC1R evolution have come to different conclusions [22,42,43]. Jolly has pointed out that the easiest way for early modern humans entering Europe to evolve light skin would be to acquire the necessary genes from Neanderthals rather than to evolve them de novo [44]. If the low-activity MC1R variant is positively selected in Europe, then MC1R presents a good opportunity to test for evidence of adaptive introgression from Neanderthals to modern humans. However, although Neanderthals and modern Europeans share a low-activity MC1R phenotype, the genotype is different (see above), which argues against significant adaptive introgression. The hypothesis could be tested more rigorously using Neanderthal sequence from other loci affecting skin color with a clearer signal of positive selection in Europeans.

A Genetic Basis for 'Race'

kliuless — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:40:09 -0800

'Race' graphically illustrated - "most Europeans" vs. Ashkenazim (previously; see also IQ & Gladwell, viz. ;) In the words of Ernest Gellner, however, I'd stress that:

...The variety of human societies is staggering. This diversity is not explicable genetically. The nature and extent of the contribution of genetic make-up to social forms is a contentious and unsettled issue, bedevilled by its political associations and implications. What is obvious, however, is that a very large part of the explanation of the form human societies assume must be social-historical and not genetic. This is obvious from the fact that populations which can be safely assumed to remain genetically identical, or very nearly so, can and do assume totally different social forms at different times. Very often, social change is simply far too rapid to be explicable by genetic change. To say all this is not to say that genetic constitution makes no contribution whatever to history. It is conceivable that some genetic constitutions have a greater predisposition to some social forms than others. The issue is difficult...

also see "Let 1,000 genomes bloom," cf. [and btw...] cheers!

Poor Devils

parudox — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 09:04:29 -0800

Devil facial tumor disease has ravaged the population of Tasmanian Devils in the last decade. DFTD is a transmissible cancer, i.e. the tumor cells themselves (which differ genetically from their host animal) are the agent responsible. The disease is spread by biting and other contact, and the resulting grotesque tumors interfere with feeding and lead to starvation. Poor immune response may be partially responsible. This is actually not the only such disease: canine transmissible venereal tumor is an analogue that has been known to be contagious since the 19th century. (CTVT, however, gets a proper immune response.) Wikipedia: DFTD, CTVT. The evidence for this method of transmission is quite recent. Here are the studies referenced in the articles: Allograft theory: Transmission of devil facial-tumour disease. (Nature wants your money, though.) Transmission of a fatal clonal tumor by biting occurs due to depleted MHC diversity in a threatened carnivorous marsupial. Clonal Origin and Evolution of a Transmissible Cancer.

Fishy miscegenation

orthogonality — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 01:57:27 -0800

More cuckoo than cuckoos: mate two salmon, get a... trout! Just give the parents a sperm transplant. And the sperm stem cells work in females too:

...Injecting the male cells into female salmon sometimes worked, too, prompting five female salmon to ovulate trout eggs.... The stem cells were still primitive enough to switch gears from sperm-producers to egg-producers when they wound up inside female organs....

Genetic discrimination

homunculus — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 14:10:54 -0800

U.S. military practices genetic discrimination in denying benefits. "Those medically discharged with genetic diseases are left without disability or retirement benefits. Some are fighting back."

"The field of evolution attracts significantly more speculation than the average area of science."

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 29 May 2007 11:05:00 -0800

"Nothing in biology makes sense except in light of evolution." Despite Theodosius Dobzhansky's succint description of natural selection at the core of biological research since Darwin's fateful trip to the Galapagos, evolutionary biologist Michael Lynch respectfully dissents, asking "whether natural selection is a necessary or sufficient force to explain" the complexity of multicellular organisms we see today, where mutation, recombination and genetic drift are often overlooked, but critical factors in evolutionary theory and understanding.

Interspecies fun (and benefits)

Jason Malloy — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 13:13:23 -0800

Neanderthal Lovin’! New research from evolutionary scientist Bruce Lahn suggests that humans and the now extinct Neanderthal species mixed, and humans snatched up a valuable brain gene in the process. (The gene, MCPH1, and Lahn, discussed last year on MeFi) This comes on the tails of yet another new study providing morphological evidence that there was nontrivial interbreeding between humans and Neanderthals in Eurasia, despite the fact that Neanderthals may have been genetically closer to chimps than humans. Contrary to popular imagination, though, the Neanderthal species had bigger brains and sophisticated intellects, at least roughly on par with that of human beings. The gene regulates brain size during development, but its exact utility to humans is still unknown (and controversial). The origin of this gene and the question of Neanderthal mixing will soon be answered more definitively by the, just launched, 2 year project to map the Neanderthal genome, headed by Svante Pääbo (profiled in recent Smithsonian and Wired articles). Pääbo calls Lahn’s study "the most compelling case to date for a genetic contribution of Neandertals to modern humans."

GATTACA

Gyan — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 04:15:19 -0800

The Promise and Perils of Synthetic Biology

Brain Gain

Jason Malloy — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 19:29:30 -0800

Genes Reveal Recent Human Brain Evolution. Two important new papers in the journal Science (available here) from the evolutionary geneticist and rising star, Bruce T. Lahn (see this recent profile from The Scientist), are potentially the tips of some very large icebergs. The papers document how two genes related to brain properties that underwent strong selection during the course of hominid evolution, have continued undergoing strong selection since the emergence of anatomically modern man. The papers wonderfully illustrate how biological evolution is an ongoing process as well as the artificial distinction between “micro” and “macro” evolution, and promise to be controversial for two reasons: First, the brain genes underwent the strongest selection during two periods of cultural and technological efflorescence (roughly 37,000 and 5,800 years ago). Second, the genes are distributed very differently in modern human population groups, existing at very high frequencies in some groups and being very rare in others, ensuring that the modern function of these genes will be a source of more research and much impassioned debate. More observations from anthropologist John Hawks.

Intelligent Design by Trial and Error

fatllama — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 09:41:21 -0800

A more efficient microbe genome. A more efficient sorting algorithm. A more efficient keyboard layout.

Human Variety

Kattullus — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 04:58:16 -0800

The Nature of Normal Human Variety A talk with Dr. Armand Leroi (his website). "Almost uniquely among modern scientific problems [the problem of normal human variety] is a problem that we can apprehend as we walk down the street. We live in an age now where the deepest scientific problems are buried away from our immediate perception. They concern the origin of the universe. They concern the relationships of subatomic particles. They concern the nature and structure of the human genome. Nobody can see these things without large bits of expensive equipment. But when I consider the problem of human variety I feel as Aristotle must have felt when he first walked down to the shore at Lesvos for the first time. The world is new again." (via Arts & Letters Daily)

Transhumanism and effective use of the Web

Mars Saxman — Sun, 13 Mar 2005 18:48:07 -0800

More than Human - Ramez Naam's site promoting his new book (about emerging technologies for engineering human biology, more or less), has excerpts, a list of upcoming appearances, and even a full-fledged blog linking to articles and commentary that might be of interest to people curious about the book's transhumanist ideas. Now this is the way to do it.

-MATT-TAME-META-TEAM-

Gyan — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 21:11:59 -0800

The Human Genome.

Got the right genes?

billsaysthis — Sat, 18 Dec 2004 13:04:01 -0800

Predicting who'll benefit from anti-depressants From the study's abstract: "There are well-replicated, independent lines of evidence supporting a role for corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) in the pathophysiology of depression." The NY Times has a bit more readable explanation (reg-free link) of a recent investigation of into whether there is a genetic explanation for why some people get more from their drugs than others.