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Scientists Create Bacteria With Expanded DNA Code
perryizgr8 (1370173) writes "Biologists have managed to create a bacteria with DNA made of the usual A-T, C-G plus an artificial third base pair, thus encoding more data in DNA. From the article: 'The scientists behind the work at the Scripps Research Institute have already formed a company to try to use the technique to develop new antibiotics, vaccines and other products, though a lot more work needs to be done before this is practical. The work also gives some support to the concept that life can exist elsewhere in the universe using genetics different from those on Earth. “This is the first time that you have had a living cell manage an alien genetic alphabet,” said Steven A. Benner, a researcher in the field at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Fla., who was not involved in the new work.'"
I for one, welcome our new bacteria overlords.
I, for one, welcome our new alien-genetic infections.
None of which I am in position or inclination to refute, seeing how we can't program the hardware we make ourselves all that great...
We've seen this before, haven't we?
Ezekiel 23:20
“This is the first time that you have had a living cell manage an alien genetic alphabet,” said Steven A. Benner, a researcher in the field at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Fla., who was not involved in the new work, and who is so totally not bitter about that.'"
'The scientists behind the work at the Scripps Research Institute have already formed a company to try to use the technique to develop new antibiotics, vaccines and other products.'
Step 1: Use public funds to do innovative research into expanding the genetic code in microbes.
Step 2: Patent everything to make sure no one else can build on your discoveries.
Step 3: Create a company that promises all the keywords for a biotech e.g. antibiotics, vaccines, etc.
Step 4: Get bought out
Step 5: ? Profit was Step 4.
Remember when science was about discovery and standing on the shoulders of giants?
I dug down to the source material because I wanted to see if they just managed to put this in the DNA or if it actually passes it down and it does.
But "alien" = no
From the article:
"the unnatural nucleoside triphosphates must be available inside the cell; endogenous polymerases must be able to use the unnatural triphosphates to faithfully replicate DNA containing the UBP within the complex cellular milieu; and finally, the UBP must be stable in the presence of pathways that maintain the integrity of DNA. Here we show that an exogenously expressed algal nucleotide triphosphate transporter efficiently imports the triphosphates of both d5SICS and dNaM (d5SICSTP and dNaMTP) into Escherichia coli"
Short version: It works because the particular building blocks are available in the cell for replication and the DNA repair mechanisms in the cell don't weed the modification out. Very significant stuff, but this isn't exactly "alien" or anything.
Priest: "Universe from nothing, no laws of physics, sped up time"+ huge discrepancies. Creationism? No. Big Bang Theory
So does this bacteria grown into a supermodel with orange hair?
In a hundred years, there will be nothing but abandoned cities under flood waters. Humans and many other animals will be dead. But there will be some bacteria with this extra base pair.
In a hundred million years, there will be no other evidence we were even here. Perhaps a future intelligent species will look back and wonder why some bacteria has more DNA than other life. They will make many interesting theories. Some will theorize that a previous intelligent species created the third base pair. And those that do will be called crackpots.
Democracy Now! - your daily, uncensored, corporate-free
This would also prevent beneficial mutations, by the same token
How's your knee feeling? It must be getting pretty tired by now...
Dr. Romesberg dismissed concern that novel organisms would run amok and cause harm, saying the technique was safe because the synthetic nucleotides were fed to the bacteria. Should the bacteria escape into the environment or enter someone’s body, they would not be able to obtain the needed synthetic material and would either die or revert to using only natural DNA.
Yeah, and we all know how well that worked out with the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.
Thanks, Obama!
In a hundred years, bigsexyjoeJr will be ranting on ./v3 how in a hundred years the world will be nothing but abandoned cities encased in ice with no life left anywhere.
Maybe we deserve this world ?
So you are claiming the scientists are all working together, across national boundaries in adversarial countries, falsifying their evidence so well that it can pass peer review without any single one exposing the fraud and collecting their Nobel prize and untold riches in the process, so they can collect money from you? Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound? You are dismissing science because of what you assume will happen in the political world based on their findings. It's as bizarre as saying germ theory is a hoax because you don't want to subsidize medicare or medicaid. People like you are more dangerous than climate change.
For an entertaining take, see Greg Egan's Distressed novel, which has a whole subplot about a rich family whose members have their entire DNS replaced by a "translated" equivalent made of artifical, new nucleobases, complete with updated enzymatic machinery. As a side-effect it turns their skin jet black and allows them to survive on a diet of tire rubber.
They then plan to release a superbug on their fellow humans (it cannot affect them since they have become, in effect, complete aliens) and keep the Earth for themselves.
Maybe we deserve this world ?
Now with 1.58x the data per digit!
I agree - one need not use "belief", akin to faith "the evidence of things unseen", to accept something that is visibly trending factual data. Or to notice that high tide on the Jersey Shore has been eating away the beaches and moving closer to the houses. These are objectively observable phenomena.that CAN be seen with the naked eye. Maybe the cities won't be under *deep* flood waters, but I would advise against buying an apartment in Manhattan's Battery Park City.
In a hundred years, there will be nothing but abandoned cities under flood waters. Humans and many other animals will be dead. But there will be some bacteria with this extra base pair.
That would be one interesting outcome - but in order to replicate, the bacteria needs these proteins that it won't get in nature. Take it outside the lab, and it won't last long. That has intriguing implications.
So, they flushed their DNS cache and reloaded it? Interesting...
You seem unaware that even the worst-case forecasts for AGW don't include enough sea-level rise to do this.
You also seem unaware that even the worst-case for AGW don't include human extinction either....
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
This would be most inert DNA.
"In a hundred years, there will be nothing but abandoned cities under flood waters" No in the worst case many cities will not have any issues with flooding. Think Denver, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Phoenix, and so on, none are going to flood. ."Humans and many other animals will be dead." Nope that is extremely unlikely. Not impossible but I super unlikely.
"But there will be some bacteria with this extra base pair." Maybe but again not likely.
In other words wll in to crazy.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.