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Synthetic Biology Synthetic Biology Extreme Genetic
Engineering
Jim Thomas
ETC Group.
Designing Lifeforms in the
21st Century…
A Rough Guide to
$ 3000
7500bp
atgcgtaaaggagaagaacttttcactggagttgtcccaattcttgttgaattagatggtgatgttaatgggcacaaattttctgtcagtggagagggtgaaggtgatgcaacatacggaaaacttacccttaaatttatttgcactactggaaaactacctgttccatggccaacacttgtcactactttcggttatggtgttcaatgctttgcgagatacccagatcatatgaaacagcatgactttttcaagagtgccatgcccgaaggttatgtacaggaaagaactatatttttcaaagatgacgggaactacaagacacgtgctgaagtcaagtttgaaggtgatacccttgttaatagaatcgagttaaaaggtattgattttaaagaagatggaaacattcttggacacaaattggaatacaactataactcacacaatgtatacatcatggcagacaaacaaaagaatggaatcaaagttaacttcaaaattagacacaacattgaagatggaagcgttcaactagcagaccattatcaacaaaatactccaattggcgatggccctgtccttttaccagacaaccattacctgtccacacaatctgccctttcgaaagatcccaacgaaaagagagaccacatggtccttcttgagtttgtaacagctgctgggattacacatggcatggatgaactatacaaataataa
Synbio
Cells
=
Seven
Steps
Café
Latte
=
Twelve
Steps
(And costs more in
equipment)
BBa_E0030 Part-only sequence (723bp)
atggtgagcaagggcgaggagctgttcaccggggtggtgcccatcctggtcgagctggacggcgacgtaaacggccacaagttcagcgtgtccggcgagggcgagggcgatgccacctacggcaagctgaccctgaagttcatctgcaccaccggcaagctgcccgtgccctggcccaccctcgtgaccaccttcggctacggcctgcaatgcttcgcccgctaccccgaccacatgaagctgcacgacttcttcaagtccgccatgcccgaaggctacgtccaggagcgcaccatcttcttcaaggacgacggcaactacaagacccgcgccgaggtgaagttcgagggcgacaccctggtgaaccgcatcgagctgaagggcatcgacttcaaggaggacggcaacatcctggggcacaagctggagtacaactacaacagccacaacgtctatatcatggccgacaagcagaagaacggcatcaaggtgaacttcaagatccgccacaacatcgaggacggcagcgtgcagctcgccgaccactaccagcagaacacccccatcggcgacggccccgtgctgctgcccgacaaccactacctgagctaccagtccgccctgagcaaagaccccaacgagaagcgcgatcacatggtcctgctggagttcgtgaccgccgccgggatcactctcggcatggacgagctgtacaagtaataa
“Teenagers..”
“Biohackers…”
“Start-Ups…”
STEP 1: Use philanthropic money
to destroy african farm
livelihoods…
STEP 2: Use the same
technology to take over the
biofuels industry.
“Moguls…”
“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 have modest goals of replacing the whole petrochemical industry and becoming a major source of energy,"
“Corporations…”
Why
Worry??
BIOWARFARE
Reasons to worry..
BIOPIRACY
Reasons to worry..
“We ought to be able to make any compound produced by a plant inside a microbe”
Jay Keasling
Engineered Biological Systems
ŅThe Amyris team of scientists and engineers is nowpoised to commercialize pharmaceuticals and otherhigh value, fine chemicals taken from the worldÕsforests and oceans by making these compounds insynthetic microbes.Ó
Artemisia annua - source of powerfulAnti-malarial compound
Q ui ckTi me™ and aTI FF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see thi s pi cture.
Lets say we want to digitally steal
guarana…
Reasons to worry..
STEP 1: identify the
plant
Paullinia cupana
Lets say we want to digitally steal
guarana…
Reasons to worry..
STEP 2: Find
appropriate gene
sequences on
GENBANK
Lets say we want to digitally steal
guarana…
Reasons to worry..
STEP 3: Order the
gene sequences from
a DNA synthesis
company
Lets say we want to digitally steal
guarana…
Reasons to worry..
STEP 4:Engineer
Synthetic DNA
pathways into microbe
and tinker to produce
Guarana extract
Reasons to worry..
NOTE!!!
No Material Transfer Agreement needed
(Access and Benefit Sharing)
Because
No MATERIAL is transferred.
“The poster boy for the commercialisation of research”
”The application of modern genomics techniques to the study of communities of microbial organisms directly in their natural environments, bypassing the need for isolation and lab cultivation of individual species.”
- Kevin Chen and Lior Pachtr (UC Berkeley)
Phase 1 METAGENOMICS
Massive Raw Materials Grab.
Sargasso:
1.4 million new genes
Halifax > Galapagos:
Six million new genes
4 million genes of foreign species in mouth, intestines etc - More bacterial cells than human cells -10 percent of what is in our bloodstream is bacterial metabolites
“We are as much dependent on bacterial metabolism as human metabolism” - Venter.
Minimal genome.
Transplantation
Full genome construction
+
+
Mycoplasma genitalium
Phase 1: An operating system
Mycoplasma laboratorium
Combinatorial Genomics - “ a new Cambrian Explosion”
I call it combinatorial genomics.. Its one of my better ideas if it works. In fact, its one of my better ideas if it
doesn’t work’ - Venter
+ +
= “Ten million genes are the design components of the
future, With combinatorial genomics and casette-based construction, we can make millions of genomes per day.”
- JC Venter
Plug-in gene
cassette system
Millions of new
sequences
Rapid Robotic
construction
Implications for ABS:
1. No identification at the organism level - delinked from traditional knowledge.
2. Faster identification of useful sequences. Ie rapid biopiracy.
3. No need for physical transfer of material - digital discovery.
4. More data you have the easier it is to disprove a single source.
BIOSAFETY
Reasons to worry..
“The engineers can come and rewire this and that. But biological systems are not simple...
And the engineers will find out that the bacteria are just laughing at them.” - Eckard Wimmer, SUNY StonyBrook
“The logical extrapolation from this experiment is to suggest that it is possible to make a genetically engineered microorganism that would kill all terrestrial plants. “
Dr Elaine Ingham. University of Oregon.
BIODEVESTATION (via the
Biomass Economy )
Reasons to worry..