Technofender

Synthetic Biology is an emerging field. Much work still is to be done, but the progress already made points out to an exciting sci pathway.

Whether the applications of the Synth-Bio are conducted towards the production of new pharmaceutical products, or to the manufacturing of specialized biocomponents - that might help to reduce the contamination - it really, really has possibilities.

In a recent research conducted by Dr. Pamela Silver at the Harvard Medical School (HMS) a new milestone was reached.

As every engineer knows, the design must be strongly tested before going on to the manufacturing issues. That makes it very close to the Maths models. In fact, if a new structure is to be built, an engineer would test the design FIRST, against some complex mathematical models that would output the resistance to pressure, tangential effort and aome other physical factors. After that, the process of building - let’s say a bridge - would include some considerations.

Silver et al, achieved successfully at inducing a memory loop in yeast cells and producing a new mathematical model that predicted - with a certain degree of accuracy - the behaviour of the cells.

The experiment was about including a pair of genes - synthetic - with the ability to produce transcription factors.

Transcription Factors are capable of regulating the activity of specific genes, forcing them to synthetize (or otherwise disable) a specific protein.

The first gene reacted to the presence of Galactose, producing a transcription factor, which in turn, activated the second gene. Then, the second gene reacted by producing a transcription factor, which at the end reactivated itself (the second gene). This caused a feedback loop, that was maintained by the presence of Galactose.

But, when the Galactose was extracted from the medium, then the first gene stopped producing its transcription factor, but the second gene continued producing its own.

The new cells - as expected - kept producing the second gene transcription factor and the experiment was successful.

“Essentially what happened is that the cell remembered that it had been
exposed to galactose, and continued to pass this memory on to its descendents,” says Ajo-Franklin, a co-worker of Dr. Silver. “So after many cell divisions, the feedback loop remained intact without galactose or any other sort of molecular trigger.”

Most important is that the construction phase was guided by the mathematical model. That has profound implications in the future of the Synthetic Biology.

If "black boxes" are to be constructed then it’s positively compulsory to be backed-up on the Mathematical models. Accuracy is needed as to foresee a future when black boxes would be plugged into living cells, knowing exactly what the results will be. The same way a Computer Technician plugs a memory chip into the appropriate mainboard slot of the PC.

Via: Hardvard News