Patrick Boyle’s Lecture Questions:
Wow, that is an interesting concept. If all molecular biology work was automated-
the first thing I would definitely wonder about is how automated can it get, would the machines really be able to function flawlessly without human troubleshooting as we humans always adapt and work.
So at one time getting the entire human genome in our hand was a huge challenge but now that database is open to access, I wonder if automation will allow us to access the comparison between every living being that has existed on the planet, with the help of current organisms and phylogenetic relationships.
How better can things like cancer gene expression predictions can get with automation? Will there be a point when we will be able to predict at what what instance is one going to get a mutation that will lead to tumor growth. ** Some of the products I can think of would be mainly contributing to the medical and healthcare sector like extremely personalized medicines and therapies, personalized syn bio based detectors, cutting edge wearables. Also I would love to imagine a world where this benefits the food industry, automation to the point that we will be able to predict better in fields like agriculture would definitely lead to a bright future
Antibodies
**If I could make metric tons of any protein I would definitely go for antibodies. The main reason being ANTIBODIES ARE EXPENSIVE. I feel its a bit unfair that cost of lives can be so high and so many people lose their loved ones just because of this reason. A scaled up production of antibodies can led to more affordable treatments , as diseases affect everyone equally so the treatment options should be distributed equally as well.
The genes that encode for enzyme crtB, crtI and crtE, these are transferred into E.coli to induce production of lycopene for beta carotene, crtY is inserted ** 2. Why do the plasmids that are transferred into the E. coli need to contain an antibiotic resistance gene?
these genes only allow plasmid having E.coli to thrive in the antibiotic presence. This increases selectivity ** 3. What outcomes might we expect to see when we vary the media, presence of fructose, and temperature conditions of the overnight cultures?
using fructose instead of glucose as a sugar source can help cells grow better and produce more protein, likely because it causes less stress and waste buildup inside the cells. Also, the temperature we grow cells at matters—if it’s too high, it can mess with how proteins fold, how fast enzymes work, or even how the cells copy their DNA. And of course, the nutrient mix in the growth media plays a big role in all of this, since it affects what the cells can absorb and how fast they grow.
Optical density of 600 nm wavelength, which helps to determine the growth of bacteria by seeing the density. it works on colorimetric principles/ beer lamberts law
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Acetone is polar in nature, it is an organic solvent mainly used in separation techniques. its high polarity helps in separation hence we may be able to use acetone to separate cellular matter from a compound ** 2. Why might we want to engineer E. coli to produce lycopene and beta-carotene pigments when Erwinia herbicola naturally produces them?
Mostly to increase scalability to and have control upon the production
Lectures, recitations and slides