Intro to Biology

Workshop on Assignment 2

SCI115

Live workshop 10/30/2018

In Assignment 2, you continue with the same topic as the article you used in Assignment 1

In order to give a better sense of what we’re looking for in each component of the paper, this presentation covers a lot of concrete examples from different topics.

This slide was added after

the live session

Begin with a description of the biotechnology and what it accomplishes. Then, explain whether it involves manipulating the DNA (or RNA) of an organism, or simply utilizing the DNA (or RNA) that is already there naturally.

• For your technology describe the applications

• Changing DNA versus Interpreting DNA

• Let’s look at some concrete examples of this to illustrate the concept

Changing DNA or Interpreting DNA

• Changing DNA

– Human gene therapy

– Gene drives

– GM crops

– GM animals

• Interpreting DNA

– Crime scene analysis

– Precision Medicine

Changing DNA – applications

• Human gene therapy

– Curing a disease

• Gene drives

– Wiping out harmful pest populations

• GM crops

– Enhancing agriculture

• GM animals

– Agriculture, special products, research

Interpreting DNA – applications

• Crime scene analysis

– Identifying criminal perpetrators

• Precision Medicine

– Informing medical decisions

Interpreting DNA – applications

• Crime scene analysis (identifying criminal perpetrators) – CODIS System (using STRs)

– Phenotyping

• Precision Medicine (informing medical decisions) – Medical decisions based on inherited DNA

• Prevention

• Treatment

– Custom treatment for tumors based on acquired mutations

Explain the basics of how your selected technology works.

• Focus on your biotechnology

• How does it work?

Changing DNA – how it works

• Human gene therapy (curing a disease) – Compensating for a loss-of-function gene by adding a

copy of the functional gene – Replacing a non-functional gene with the functional

gene – Silencing a gene that is causing problems

• Gene drives (wiping out harmful pest populations) – Creating a situation in an organism will always get two

copies of a gene • if it only gets one copy, another is added by special enzymes

Changing DNA – how it works

• GM crops (enhancing agriculture)

– Genes added (usually from another species) to confer some trait such as disease resistance, insect resistance, tolerance of drought/heat, enhanced nutrition

– Genes suppressed to prevent ripening too fast, etc.

Changing DNA – how it works

• GM animals (agriculture, special products, research) – GM meats

• A gene has been added to meat animals to grow quicker, have less fat, etc.

– “Pharming” • A gene has been added so that the animal secretes a specialized

product in milk or other secretions

– Xenotransplantation • Genes added/removed to make animals tissues more like human

tissue for transplantation purposes

– Research • E.g. genes are knocked-out in mice to determine their function

Big Issues for Changing DNA

• Big Issue: how to change something that’s sequestered in the nucleus

– There are a lot of different methods employed, depending on exactly what you are doing

– Not all of them will be relevant to your technology

• Here we’re covering concrete examples to get the idea across

Big Issues for Changing DNA (with more details)

• Conventional means for getting foreign genes into a cell nucleus – Conventional GM crops use a gene gun or Agrobacterium

tumefaciens as a vector, followed by a series of special steps to get seeds

– GM animal techniques require microinjection into a fertilized ovum

– Human gene therapy often uses a virus as the vector to get a new gene into the cell

– Membrane-bound vesicles

• Newer techniques for gene editing – Getting CRISPR enzymes / templates into a cell

Big Issues for Interpreting DNA

• Getting a sample

• Amplifying the sample

• Analyzing the DNA

• Comparing it to a Database

Big Issues for Interpreting DNA (with more details)

• Getting a sample • Amplifying the sample

– Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) – Get enough to work with

• Looking at the DNA – What exactly is being analyzed?

• STRs (non-coding DNA) • Coding DNA

– Some technology for identifying certain pieces of DNA • Separating STRs • Gene chip (DNA microarray) • Sequencing

• Comparing it to a Database

A Big Issue for Interpreting DNA: database / knowledge-base

• For Forensic DNA the database is critical – E.g. collecting DNA from convicted felons

– A lot of societal issues

• For Precision medicine the knowledge base is critical – It is building, slowly

• Some human inherited diseases are due to a single gene

• Most human diseases are related to multiple genes

– Situations where there is actionable information are limited

Discuss the key biological principles that underlie the technology

• How genes work

• How inheritance works

• The relationship between gene, gene product and phenotype

Discuss the key biological principles that underlie the technology

• Many of them are based on an understanding of genes and how they are expressed.

• Some are based on the concept of the genome, transcriptome, or proteome.

• Others are based on an understanding of non- coding DNA (such as the short-tandem repeats used in DNA fingerprinting).

• Many are based on an understanding of DNA replication, as well as basic heredity.

Use your own words

• Gather information | Think about it | Explain it as if explaining to a sibling

• A well-established norm in higher education is that students should use their own words

– Society expects this

– Employers expect well-honed communication skills

Credit your sources using SWS

• There’s a link to the SWS document in Bb

• Source list at the end that lists everything

– It’s a numbered list

• In the body of your text use the number that corresponds to the source you used

Important Considerations

• Use your own words, in clear, plain language, as if explaining the concepts to someone who doesn’t know much about science

• Break the material into paragraphs • An excellent strategy is to write a paragraph or

two for each component of the assignment – What it accomplishes – How it works / implementation details – Biological principles

This slide was added after

the live session

Important Considerations

• We’re mainly interested in what you’ve learned from your research, as expressed in your own words – Avoid excessive use of quotations

– Avoid plagiarism

• Show the instructor that you understand the underlying science behind the technology.

This slide was added after

the live session

Discussion

Questions and Answers