Scientists have pasted some more information into a DNA molecule and the creature still successfully reproduced along with the added material. The scientists call this creating a new life but that's no more true than Bondo turns a Chevrolet into a Ferrari. (Fox News: Scientists create first living organism containing artificial DNA)
Hardly any part of the title is accurate. Scientists did not create a living organism as it existed already. They did not use artificial DNA but rather they spliced material into some existing DNA and this is what included the non-DNA molecules. This is called recombinant DNA and scientists have been doing it for decades. This is the GMO stuff that will eat your babies and poison your water.
The interesting part isn't so much this aspect but rather what proteins does this DNA make. Molecules attach to DNA because the genetic code makes landing places for them. Molecules attach to the ones 'adjacent' to them and thus make larger molecules which then split off from the DNA as a protein. Different parts of the DNA make different proteins. (This is way over-simplifying it but I'm not willing to go back into the biochemistry days and you probably wouldn't read what came from that anyway.)
The scientists added some stuff to the DNA but what protein does that additional encoding make. Does it even make anything at all as, in effect, it would leave letters out. The only letters DNA uses are A-T or C-G (Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine). Adding more 'letters' doesn't make a new language, it would be amazing if it even survived.
For example, we add X for some mythical base to add to the DNA chain. It has to pair with another so we'll make up Y as well. X will always pair with Y just as A always pairs with T and C always pairs with G. This may seem too simple to really accomplish anything but Morse Code is only two sounds and you could send the complete works of William Shakespeare that way if you like.
The sequence of the A-T and the C-G pairs is what makes up the individual structure of any DNA helix, this is what comprises genes, etc. So now we have an X-Y pair in there and what is it supposed to do. Will it create a protein someone has never seen before, will it do anything at all.
To make proteins, the required molecules need to land on the appropriate place and then they have to bond with molecules that land beside them. If it's the wrong molecule (i.e. one that landed at an X-Y location) then it may not bond at all or it may make something unpredictable.
This goes far beyond GMO corn and your precious hatred for Monsanto as it's going to the fundamental nature of life and altering it in ways that need very careful ethical consideration. It's not just raising dogs with green fur or fish that glow in the dark as this type of change to DNA goes in the face of every strand of DNA that ever existed as the same structure and biochemistry is used for every living creature on the planet and every creature that has ever lived.
And now you want to fuck with it. Make very damn sure you know what you are doing, young Frankenstein.
Hardly any part of the title is accurate. Scientists did not create a living organism as it existed already. They did not use artificial DNA but rather they spliced material into some existing DNA and this is what included the non-DNA molecules. This is called recombinant DNA and scientists have been doing it for decades. This is the GMO stuff that will eat your babies and poison your water.
The interesting part isn't so much this aspect but rather what proteins does this DNA make. Molecules attach to DNA because the genetic code makes landing places for them. Molecules attach to the ones 'adjacent' to them and thus make larger molecules which then split off from the DNA as a protein. Different parts of the DNA make different proteins. (This is way over-simplifying it but I'm not willing to go back into the biochemistry days and you probably wouldn't read what came from that anyway.)
The scientists added some stuff to the DNA but what protein does that additional encoding make. Does it even make anything at all as, in effect, it would leave letters out. The only letters DNA uses are A-T or C-G (Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine). Adding more 'letters' doesn't make a new language, it would be amazing if it even survived.
For example, we add X for some mythical base to add to the DNA chain. It has to pair with another so we'll make up Y as well. X will always pair with Y just as A always pairs with T and C always pairs with G. This may seem too simple to really accomplish anything but Morse Code is only two sounds and you could send the complete works of William Shakespeare that way if you like.
The sequence of the A-T and the C-G pairs is what makes up the individual structure of any DNA helix, this is what comprises genes, etc. So now we have an X-Y pair in there and what is it supposed to do. Will it create a protein someone has never seen before, will it do anything at all.
To make proteins, the required molecules need to land on the appropriate place and then they have to bond with molecules that land beside them. If it's the wrong molecule (i.e. one that landed at an X-Y location) then it may not bond at all or it may make something unpredictable.
This goes far beyond GMO corn and your precious hatred for Monsanto as it's going to the fundamental nature of life and altering it in ways that need very careful ethical consideration. It's not just raising dogs with green fur or fish that glow in the dark as this type of change to DNA goes in the face of every strand of DNA that ever existed as the same structure and biochemistry is used for every living creature on the planet and every creature that has ever lived.
And now you want to fuck with it. Make very damn sure you know what you are doing, young Frankenstein.
No comments:
Post a Comment