10 Questions
What was the ultimate goal of Anwar Dafa-Alla and Mahmoud Aghiorly in their projects related to the human genome?
To transition from numerical bioinformatics to designing and creating life.
What organism did Anwar Dafa-Alla and Mahmoud Aghiorly start with to create copies of its parent organism in a lab?
A bacteriophage.
How did Anwar Dafa-Alla and Mahmoud Aghiorly demonstrate their ability to manipulate genetic code in bacteria?
They introduced a piece of nucleic acid with around 5,000 letters into bacteria, which led to the production of viral particles.
What was the significance of their proposal to create chromosome structures that could change their components?
To better understand the real components of a living organism.
What are the four letters used to write words, sentences, and ideas?
A, C, G, T
What method did they turn to when the large piece of DNA did not grow longer easily in the bacterial environment?
Complementary assembly
What bacterium is mentioned in the text that can accept three million gamma rays?
Deinococcus radiodurans
How long does it take for Deinococcus radiodurans to put itself back together after its chromosome is partially destroyed?
Twelve to twenty-four hours
What is the simple representation of the large DNA piece created using the described methods?
Microscope slide
What is the weight of the largest piece of chromosome ever made by humans?
Over 300 million tons
Study Notes
- Anwar Dafa-Alla and Mahmoud Aghiorly discuss various projects related to human genome and its implications.
- They started from a new point in bioinformatics and aimed to transition from numerical bioinformatics to designing and creating life.
- They raised fundamental questions about what life is and if it can be recreated or a new one can be created from the digital world.
- They developed a smaller organism, a bacteriophage, for creating copies of its parent organism in a lab.
- They aimed to understand if they could reach smaller genomes and build hundreds of thousands of them.
- However, their representation was simple compared to their goal and it was unlikely to lead to a living organism.
- They then proposed creating chromosome structures that could change their components to better understand the real components of a living organism.
- They started with the information about Phi X 174, a small virus that kills bacteria.
- They designed and created a piece of nucleic acid with around 5,000 letters.
- When they introduced this piece into bacteria, the bacteria began to read its genetic code and produced viral particles.
- They also discussed the potential of the oil industry understanding this model.
- They aimed to create all the chromosome structures for bacteria, which is over 580,000 letters long.
- They designed individual parts that were longer than 50 letters and could combine with other letters to create smaller units.
- They also used four letters, A, C, G, and T, to write words, sentences, and ideas.
- Some people were unhappy that it was not a poem.
- They designed these pieces so they could be combined with enzymes that could fix mistakes and put them back together.
- They started creating the pieces, starting with those that were around 5,000 to 7,000 letters long, and combining them to make 24,000 pieces.
- They then combined a group of these pieces to make 72,000 pieces.
- In every stage, they synthesized these pieces quickly to create a strong process.
- They aimed to reach the activation point.
- When they reached this large piece, around 100,000 base pairs, it did not grow longer easily in the bacterial environment.
- They then turned to other methods, such as the "complementary assembly" method, which is used in biology to repair the nucleic acid, and can place the pieces back together.
- There is a bacterium called Deinococcus radiodurans that can accept three million gamma rays.
- It can be seen at the top of the plate, its chromosome is partially destroyed.
- Twelve to twenty-four hours later, it puts itself back together again as it was before.
- There are millions of such living organisms that can do the same.
- These organisms can be completely dry and live in tubes.
- I am confident that life can exist in outer space and travel, find a new watery environment.
- NASA has shown many examples of this.
- There is a simple representation of the piece we created using these methods, it can be seen on a microscope slide with the correct design of the pieces we put together.
- The microscope slide puts them back together mechanically.
- This is not an electronic image.
- This is just a simple representation.
- This is just a large piece that we can see on a microscope for six seconds.
- This is the report we obtained before for a short time.
- This is over 580,000 letters long.- The text discusses the creation and manipulation of chromosomes.
- The largest piece of chromosome ever made by humans weighs over 300 million tons.
- If printed without spaces, it would take only 142 pages to print this DNA sequence.
- Chromosomes interact with bacteria, but we have only recently learned how to transfer and activate them between cells.
- We extract chromosomes from one cell and grow them in another, creating new chromosomes.
- We clean the chromosomes of harmful microbes and add enzymes to kill proteins.
- Once introduced into a new cell, the chromosomes change color due to added genes.
- The chromosomes transform completely into a new organism based on a new program we have designed.
- All proteins and structures change, and the DNA sequence reads as intended.
- We can change the color, the production of oil, or even the food and water industries by altering a few genes.
- We can create complex designs for computer models to help us visualize and design various organisms.
- We do not yet know exactly what the end product will be, but we can control its DNA sequence.
- We are currently working on the fourth generation of fuel, which involves converting carbon dioxide into methane using hydrogen as a catalyst.
- We have tried converting rice into ethanol as a test, but it has been an unsuccessful endeavor.
- We have a second and third generation of fuel coming soon, which includes sugar as a source of energy, comparable to octane or various types of biotanol.
- The only practical way to make a significant impact without raising food prices or limiting production is by starting with carbon dioxide as a catalyst.
- We are designing cells to go in this direction, and we believe we will produce the first fourth-generation fuel in approximately 18 months.
- Sunlight and carbon dioxide are two ways to produce energy, but we have various methods for exploring the rest of our discoveries in the world.
- This organism, described in 1996, lives in deep ocean waters at temperatures close to boiling point and absorbs carbon dioxide to generate energy using hydrogen as a catalyst.
- We are researching whether we can reuse captured carbon dioxide to convert it back into fuel and generate energy for this process.
- The question "What is life?" has intrigued us, and we have ambitious goals to eliminate all petrochemical industries. (Laughs) (Pause) Yes, if we couldn't do that at a conference, how could we make it a primary energy source? (Laughs) We are also working on using the same tools to create a mini-reactor.
- This year, we have encountered the influenza virus, and we are constantly in need of a new vaccine and lacking the funds for the correct medication.
- We believe that creating synthetic microbial communities might offer a solution before the situation worsens.
- This is the future of development, with synthetic microbial communities, rapid evolution of archaea, and bacterial cells in their final stages.
- We are far from enhancing human capabilities.
- Our goal is to ensure that we have a sustainable means to continue this endeavor.
- Thank you very much. (Laughs) (Pause)
Explore the process of designing and creating chromosomes for organisms, discussing their implications and potential applications in various industries. Learn about synthetic microbial communities, fourth-generation fuel development, and the manipulation of DNA sequences to alter organism structures and functions.
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