Week 13 Lectures Flashcards
What were the major concerns about recombinant DNA at the time of Asilomar?
Organisms could be created and cause disease/harm. We could create unknown pathogens from the E coli. and cause epidemics from unknown genes
What was the Asilomar Conference?
It was a conference about recombinant DNA discussing the combination of DNA and different organisms
What is the historical significance of the Asilomar Conference?
It showed that scientists could develop for biosafety levels and the start of bioethics
What is the lasting legacy of Asilomar?
It showed scientific progress like putting guidelines in place and doings things with risk and care with new technology. It showed self restraint and that certain studies shouldn’t just be done for the sake of doing them.
What was the goal of Colossal Biosciences? What was their goal of the mice?
Bring back extinct species
What did the engineered animals do?
It allowed the team to confirm that changes to specific genes produce certain traits
What did engineers do to genes of the mice?
They zeroed in on a handful of genes impacting hair
length, thickness, and color, as well as lipid metabolism
How many genes were changed in the mice?
They made eight simultaneous tweaks to the mouse genome, resulting in changes to seven genes
What genes were broken in the mice?
FGF5 for thick hair, AM83G, FZD6, and TGM3 produced curly whiskers and a
woolly, wavy coat
What were some concerns of the mice experiment?
Concerns of ethics and de-extinction
What did scientist say to back up the mice experiment?
They argue that it could make modern day inhabitants resilient to climate change
