Playing God

Last night I watched an episode of Horizon about synthetic biology, which opened my eyes to the cutting edge science which is on the cusp of breaking into the medical world.

 The first case examined the use of genetic engineering at Utah State University, where researchers had isolated the gene which causes the production of spider’s silk, and inserted it into a goat embryo in order to allow goats to produce the proteins in spider silk. The protein was extracted from the milk of the goat and the researchers were able to synthesise spider’s silk. This withholds great medical potential; the silk can be used in both tendon and ligament repair, because it has the ability to be both strong, and elastic enough, as well as being bio-compatible – allowing it to be accepted into the human body (without immune-response or inflammation).

A later case looked at a NASA medic, who was tasked with assisting astronauts deal with radiation in space. The idea consisted of inserting genetically modified bacteria into astronauts, which could release a therapeutic molecule to help the astronauts with radiation sickness. The bacteria would be contained within ‘bio-capsules’ which consist of carbon nanotubes which contain hole too small for synthetic bacteria to escape, but large enough to allow the therapeutic molecules out. These look to be an important discovery for future medicine in terms of containing drugs at a molecular level which are inserted into the body – an important drug delivery system which can be triggered by the infection it is trying to prevent. Most importantly, carbon nanotubes are accepted into the body (they are bio-compatible).

The final case examined the brain; the centre of art, culture and emotion. It showed a professor at Massachusetts Institue of Technology who is developing a new strand of synthetic biology - synthetic neurobiology. The basis of his experimentation was to enable the ability to control the brain. The process involved stimulating different areas of the brain where specific neurone-receptors were residing. The subject of the experiment, a mouse, had a synethtic virus inserted into its brain, which deposited genes (extracted from green algae which requires light sensitivity to photosynthesise) on neurones in the brain, which made the neurones sensitive to light, tiling the surface light solar panels. Proteins from the algae were produced which, when exposed to light, produced electrical pulses. The scope of this discovery I found phenomenal and intensely fascinating. In the future, humans may have the power to directly influence neurones in the brain which control emotions and decision making, or perhaps find new pathways around psychological disorders. Directly affecting individual neurones is not possible with pharmaceuticals, as they can also cause side effects in other areas of the brain.

The programme also examined the creation of the first synthetic life form, created by Craig Venter in 2010. This concept particularly opened my mind to what life actually is. In fact that day we had been learning about the first life forms in Chemistry and how life was able to exist in precise conditions and develop a niche in which to exist. Then I reflected these ideas to medicine: what does it mean to keep somebody alive? What does it mean to die? It honed the importance of this profession and furthered my fascination with medicine.