Gene Editing vs. Alternative Technology

November 18, 2017 | ProgressTH Ed Yong in his article, "New Zealand’s War on Rats Could Change the World," helped frame up an ongoing debate over using genetically modified organisms (GMOs) altered through gene-editing technology to eradicate pests. In this particular case, the problem is rats and other invasive predatory mammals that endanger New Zealand's native bird populations.

Yong covers proposals to introduce genes into mammalian populations to hinder their ability to reproduce. These "gene-drives" are unlike other technologies like gene therapy, which replace faulty genes in human patients to correct genetic diseases or enhance an individual's immune system to fight cancer. Unlike gene therapy where the corrected genes are not passed down to an individual's offspring, gene-drives imply that edited genes would be passed down to future generations.

A rat with a compromised reproductive system would pass those genes down to whatever offspring it managed to have. Eventually, the entire species would carry the compromised genes, its numbers would dwindle, and eventually disappear altogether.

New Zealand's invasive mammalian predator problem isn't the first case this technology has been proposed for. Companies around the world are racing to introduce similarly edited genes into mosquito populations.

Wonder Technology vs Alternatives 

Mr. Yong's article, however, did not just sell biotech to readers. An articulate and superior counterargument was presented, warning of a sort of invasive species scenario in reverse where the edited genes would "quickly and relentlessly spread," overwriting an entire population's genome, and once released would be nearly impossible to contain.

DIY Gene Therapy: A True Biopunk Story

May 2, 2016 | ProgressTH It is inevitable that the technology currently controlled by large monopolies ends up democratized and in the hands of smaller and smaller organizations and eventually, in the hands of individuals. This includes very powerful biotechnology with the ability to alter our own genes.

Biopunk is a sub-genre of cyberpunk, a psuedo-sci fi version of anarchy or agorism that focuses on evening the odds specifically by using technology.

Gene therapy is currently at the leading edge of medicine, proving itself against some of the most confounding human health conditions we have ever faced from blindness and deafness, to cancer and diabetes.

Gene therapy essentially is a method of identifying where our genetic code has gone wrong, and reintroducing code through a reprogrammed virus to correct it. In the case of cancer, we can reprogram our immune systems to see the otherwise “invisible” cancer cells destroying our bodies. Instead of subjecting ourselves to the devastating and ultimately futile effects of chemotherapy, gene therapy uses our own immune system to eradicate cancer just like it eradicates pathogens invading our bodies naturally on a daily basis.

Anti-Aging: Living Your Legacy Instead of Leaving it Behind

Biotech CEO is "Patient Zero" for Anti-Aging Gene Therapy

March 6, 2016 | ProgressTH Imagine living to be 140, or 240, or even longer. Imagine doing so not as a frail elderly person, but in the same health and shape of a 25-30 year old.  Imagine humanity benefiting from your wisdom and experience and vitality for decades to come. Instead of leaving a legacy behind, imagine yourself creating one and living it well into the future.

It may sound like a fantasy or science fiction, but for a growing number of scientists, researchers, and biotech enthusiasts this future is becoming all but inevitable. Instead of investing in their "retirement" they are investing in moving beyond retirement.

In fact, some have even begun experimenting (on themselves) with therapies that rewrite our very genetic code, rewriting it in such a way that our genes express themselves as they did when we were younger and healthier.

One of these people is Liz Parrish, CEO of a startup venture called Bioviva. She had a team of doctors administer two such therapies to her creating excitement for forward-thinkers, and controversy for entrenched ideologies and industries. 

Cancer Cures and DIY Gene Therapy

February 17, 2016 | ProgressTH  News services around the world have recently reported on what Gizmodo calls a "revolutionary cancer therapy" that "shows promise in terminally ill patients."

It involves the re-engineering of a patient's T-cells so that the cells can then recognize and destroy cancer cells. The Gizmodo report claims: 

...more than 90 percent of terminally ill leukemia patients had their symptoms disappear completely. 

Terminally ill patients are those that are certain to die without intervention. A 90% rate of not only a response to the therapy, but full recovery is nothing short of extraordinary. 

The technique used is called "gene therapy," and gene therapy can be used in a wide variety of ways to treat many more conditions beyond leukemia. 

Clinical trials on both humans and animal models have shown promise for restoring sight, hearing, heart tissue, and even reversing debilitating genetic conditions and diabetes. 

And while gene therapy and its effectiveness in curing leukemia in terminally ill patients is making headlines this week, it has been under development for years and has in fact been proven in clinical trials as early as 2012. 

One of the first and most spectacular stories was that of Emily Whitehead. From a website created by her family as part of a charity organization set up in gratitude to Emily's second chance at life, it tells that story: 

Workshop Opens Eyes to the Complexity/Simplicity of Biotechnology

January 15, 2016 | ProgressTH Whether you realize it or not, biology itself is a sort of technology. It is a set of tools that have been naturally developed to allow organisms, including us, to survive in a variety of environments. Just like a high-tech solar panel provides our homes and places of work with electricity, our biology provides our bodies with energy, as well as defenses against a long list of threats big and small, and the ability to move through and appreciate the planet we live on.

Students learn how to load and program a thermocycler  which heats and cools DNA, combining them with primers, to help isolate sequences of interest for further examination. 

Human beings have, over time, learned to use the tools of biology in a wide range of novel ways. Aspects of certain bacteria allow us to cut, copy, paste, amplify, and analyze DNA. This allows us to understand life on a molecular level, as well as re-engineer it in a variety of ways to serve our various needs.

All of this is done in the molecular biology lab.

SynBio/DIYbio เทคโนโลยีใหม่ที่คนไทยต้องรู้

22 มีนาคม 2558 - Progress Thailand - ปัจจุบันการรวมความรู้จากศาสตร์พื้นฐานต่างๆ กำลังก่อให้เกิดเปลี่ยนแปลงทางเทคโนโลยีอย่างก้าวกระโดด เทคโนโลยีชีวภาพก็เช่นกัน การผสมผสานแนวความคิดและเทคโนโลยีจากศาสตร์ต่างขั้ว ระหว่างวิศวกรรมและชีววิทยา ก่อให้เกิดสาขาวิชาใหม่ที่เรียกว่า ชีววิทยาสังเคราะห์ (Synthetic Biology) เพื่อทำให้สิ่งมีชีวิตที่มีอยู่เดิม เช่น แบคทีเรีย ยีสต์ เป็นต้น สามารถทำงานตามที่มนุษย์ต้องการได้ โดยมุ่งหวังให้สิ่งมีชีวิตสังเคราะห์เหล่านี้มาช่วยลดต้นทุนการผลิตจากวิธีการผลิตแบบเก่า และช่วยสร้างสารที่ไม่สามารถผลิตได้ด้วยวิธีดั้งเดิม เช่น ยารักษาโรคจากพืชปลูกยาก หรือแม้กระทั่งการนำสิ่งมีชีวิตสังเคราะห์นี้ไปทำลายเซลล์มะเร็ง เป็นต้น






ลองจินตนาการดูว่า จะเป็นอย่างไรหากวิธีการตัดต่อพันธุกรรมแบบเดิม ๆ ที่มีทั้งความยุ่งยากและซับซ้อน ถูกปรับเปลี่ยนให้ง่ายขึ้นเหมือนการเปลี่ยนหลอดไฟตามบ้าน!! เพียงแค่หาชิ้นส่วน DNA ที่ต้องการจากแคทตาล็อคตามที่เราออกแบบไว้ แล้วสั่งซื้อ DNA ที่ต้องการ จากนั้นก็นำมาแทนที่ของเดิมหรือเพิ่มเติมเข้าไปใหม่ สุดท้ายเราก็จะได้สิ่งมีชีวิตที่ทำงานตามที่เราต้องการ

ด้วยแนวความคิดของกลุ่มผู้ริเริ่มชีววิทยาสังเคราะห์ที่ต้องการทำให้วิธีการสร้างสิ่งมีชีวิตใหม่ ๆ คล้ายกับวิธีการสร้างวัสดุ อุปกรณ์ต่าง ๆ ทางวิศวกรรม โดยปรับปรุงระบบการตัดต่อพันธุกรรมให้ง่ายขึ้น ปรับชิ้นส่วน DNA แต่ละชิ้นมีรอยต่อที่เป็นมาตรฐานคล้ายอิฐบล๊อกหรือตัวต่อเลโก้ ทำให้การตัดต่อพันธุกรรมให้เป็นไปตามที่ออกแบบจึงทำได้โดยง่าย

ประกอบกับ ปัจจุบันมีบริษัทที่ผลิตเครื่องมือ และเทคโนโลยีที่เกี่ยวข้อง เกิดขึ้นอย่างมากมาย ก่อให้เกิดการแข่งขันในด้านราคา และคุณภาพ ทำให้เราได้เห็นสถาบันที่แต่เดิมทำงานด้านชีววิทยาหันมาสนใจ และเปลี่ยนแนวมาเป็นชีววิทยาสังเคราะห์มากขึ้น อีกทั้งก่อให้เกิดการสร้างชุมชน DIYbio/Synbio ซึ่งเป็นกลุ่มคนที่ต้องการทำงานนอกกรอบหลักวิชาการและการวิจัยแบบเดิม ๆ ทำให้ประชาชนทั่วไปเข้าถึงศาสตร์ดังกล่าวมากขึ้น

Do-It-Yourself Biology Comes to Thailand

February 7, 2015 -- Progress Thailand Biological technology, or biotech, has transformative powers that can help or hurt society in many ways. In terms of better understanding our biology, it can help a lot in creating new treatments and cures for diseases and defects. Our ability to take a common bacteria and turn it into a microfactory producing everything from energy to medicine is also a great potential help.

Of course there are many ways this technology can be abused. But the greatest way to prevent that is to ensure as many people as possible understand it, can use it, and can counteract any bad that can be done with it. Currently however, biotech is the sole realm of universities, governments, and large corporations. This is the way it has been since the term "biotech" was coined, but now, that is all changing.

Concepts in Synthetic Biology: The ReGen Center

April 15, 2014 | ProgressTH Imagine a doctor's office where almost any illness could be diagnosed and treated in a single day. That is one of the possibilities synthetic biology may make possible.

To explore this possibility, let's consider the "ReGen Center." Perhaps a small practice, similar in size to a pharmacy, the ReGen Center would sequence and examine patients' genomes, keep them on file and when necessary, use them to formulate gene therapies. Let's imagine that breakthroughs in sequencing, reading, editing, and reintroducing modified genes into a patient make it as easy as computer coding... what sort of shift in healthcare and for that matter, in all of society could we expect?



Enter the ReGen Center a local medical facility that might serve a few city blocks, much like a pharmacy does today, but offering therapies designed to target ailments on a genetic level. Currently gene therapy requires advanced facilities and elite teams of doctors and researchers to administer under experimental conditions. When this therapy is perfected, how might it be dispensed in the future?

Concepts in Synthetic Biology: Environmental Release!

HeliosLabs
April 15, 2014

If you could create any biological lifeform you could imagine, what would it do if released out into our natural environment? What sort of dangers does such a capability pose to us and what might a future where everyone is a biological designer look like?  What sort of measures could we use to not only protect our natural genetic heritage, but protect and isolate our novel organisms? 

New York City's DIYbio lab Genspace advertised a course titled, "Environmental Release!" with the following description...

Environmental release (@#%!!!) – setting novel organisms into established ecosystems – is controversial for good reason. Ecological theory and past “invasions” teach us that the outcomes are unpredictable. In the coming era when anyone can design new organisms and set them into the wild, we need to better understand the environmental ramifications. As such, ecologists who model these outcomes have become critical to our future.

Since Genspace is a place where people can actually work on creating novel organisms, this most likely is a fear many may have who hear of their work. The course's focus on learning from past "invasions" is very instructive - showing us what works and what doesn't work, and what problems are left over that require new innovations to confront - innovations the advancing field of synthetic biology will eventually offer us.

Literal Containment

The most obvious solution is to keep synthetic organisms contained in artificial environments and as an added precaution, given attributes that allow them to exist only in these artificial environments.  

The Biosphere 2 -- an extreme example of environmental containment that could, on varying scales be adapted to protecting both synthetic and natural ecosystems as "living repositories."