Genetic engineering is both fascinating and scary. It is fascinating because of the so many possibilities that it offers and scary because there is no limit, apparently, to what can be done and some fear that we might end up challenging the nature itself. Still, from engineering perspective, genetic engineering holds a lot of promise! Let’s have a look at 10 most interesting cases of genetic engineering.
10. Spider Goats
Professor Randy Lewis is apparently too much of a fan of Spiderman. He has managed to isolate genes that are responsible for dragline silk and have them spliced with goat resulting in a ‘spider goat’. All that needs to be done now is to milk the goat and separate the spider silk. One might ask why go through all this trouble, why don’t we just get the silk from spider? It’s a long and slow process. Spiders can’t be bred like bees and this Spider goat can generate far more spider silk than the spider. Your friendly neighborhood spider goat is just around the corner folks!
9. Singing Mice
A by-product of Evolved Mouse Project, we now have mice that can chirp like birds. Japanese research is using a rigorous approach wherein they modify mouse genes and then note down the results. It has been noted that these singing mice affect the regular mice as well. Their company has changed the regular mice and they are making use of different sounds and tones as well. ‘Mice dialect’ if you will call it! The target of the research team is to study evolution.
8. Super Salmon
Now one can’t really wait for our regular salmon to grow only during the summer and still be this small. Genetic engineering happily provides us with this genetically modified Atlantic salmon which is twice as large and grows at a rate that is almost double than that of our regular salmon. AquaBounty is the creator and has named it ‘AquaAdvantage salmon’. It has received FDA approval in 2012.
7. Vaccine Bananas
An Indian research team came up with an idea to provide vaccination to people via their food in 2007. They managed to alter bananas, carrots, lettuce, potatoes and tobacco to carry the vaccine. Moreover, it was determined that bananas serve as the best medium to transfer the vaccine. However, there are a number of constraints and flaws to this approach; allergic reactions, virus adapting to vaccine and the person’s right to not receive the vaccine!
6. Environment Friendly Pigs
Pigs are a source of phosphorous via the waste they generate and this content builds up in the soil, leeching into the water sources resulting in a environmental problem since this encourages algae growth which consumes oxygen, leaving the fish de-oxygenized. Solution to the problem just described is Enviropig; a pig engineered to reduce the amount of phosphorous waste produced by taking in more phytic acid. This particular project got shut down due to lack of funding in 2012 after running for decades.
5. Chicken Egg Drugs
British researcher Helen Sang has managed to fuse human DNA into chickens resulting in chickens whose eggs will help you fight skin cancer because of the protein contained in them. Basically, half the amount of normal protein will be switched with protein drug that fights cancer. This can be isolated and administered to patients. The approach is to find an alternative to expensive cancer drugs and manufacturing them this way is quite economical and efficient compared to the bio-reactors in use.
4. Humanized Cow Milk
Ning Li, from China came up with an alternative for breast milk. Well, it is an alternative in the sense that it’s coming from cows instead of lactating human mother. The cows have been ‘humanized’ via genetic engineering and are producing milk identical to that of a lactating human mother. The goal of research was to find a genetically altered alternative to baby formula which can be provided to infants.
3. Scorpion Cabbages
These are cabbages with their own protection system against the pesticides. No longer do they need any attention from the one growing them as far as pest protection is concerned. Using the toxin from Androctonus astralis (a very dangerous scorpion) researchers managed to come up with scorpion cabbages. Claimed to be safe for human consumption, this cabbage has been engineered using the toxin that is effective only against insects and not humans. They altered cabbage so that it grows this toxin on its own as it grows. The only trouble is the mutation of this into something which might prove to be harmful to humans.
2. Donor Pigs
Xeotransplantation is the transplantation of organs across species. The transfer of organs from pigs to humans has been a problem so far since pigs contain an enzyme which human body does not accept. A researcher at the University of Missouri, Randall Prather, has managed to clone four pigs that do not contain this enzyme and has therefore opened the once closed door to pig-human transplantation!
1. Super soldiers
We have all heard about the ‘super soldier’. The once myth and fiction is being converted to reality as you read this. The US defense company DARPA is spending a lot of time and resources into human genome. Their target is to maximize a soldier’s abilities in the war zone. However, there are certain rumors which point towards the work that is being carried out to create zombie super soldiers that would be controlled and used as mere tools in war. Terrifying as it is, but still, for now, let’s just be optimistic and appreciate the new opportunities genetic engineering has opened for us!
Source: Realitypod.com
Top 10 Interesting Genetic Engineering Products
