ainitfunny
Saved, to glorify God.
I KNOW THIS IS NOT "NEW" NEWS, BUT I DID NOT KNOW THAT SUCH THINGS COULD BE CREATED SO EASILY FROM ESSENTIALLY INERT CHEMICALS, EVEN OUTSIDE THE LAB, AND THAT ANY GERM...., BIRD FLU, SARS, ETC COULD BE MADE BY HAND FROM SCRATCH!!
Fair use for discussion/education purposes:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/polio/virusvaccine/pgenome.htm
The Virus and Vaccine, The Polio Genome
A genome is the genetic material of an organism. In 1981, two different research groups, Vincent Racaniello and David Baltimore at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Eckard Wimmer’s team at State University of New York, Stony Brook, published the poliovirus genome. They used an enzyme to switch the single strands of viral ribonucleic acid—RNA—to double strands of deoxyribonucleic acid—DNA—and then determined the sequence of adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine encoding the five molecules that are the substance of the virus’s existence.
Poliovirus lacks the ability to correct its mutations, so its genome evolves at one to two nucleotide substitutions per week. It is always changing.
In 2002, investigators at the State University of New York in Stony Brook used the published genetic sequence to synthesize a DNA version of poliovirus. Then they used an enzyme to convert the DNA to RNA and grew the virus in a cell-free extract. Animal tests showed that the synthesized poliovirus caused paralysis.
“The world had better be prepared. This shows you can re-create a virus from written information.”
—Eckard Wimmer, 2002
“I did not use any machine for sequencing the poliovirus genome. It was all done by hand—my hands! I used what was known as the ‘Maxam-Gilbert’ method, in which four different chemical reactions are carried out on the DNA. The products are then fractionated on thin polyacrylamide gels, which were poured manually, run, and then carefully removed from the plates, dried, and exposed to X-ray film. The sequencing ‘ladders’ were then read by myself on a light box and entered manually into a computer. But we didn’t have individual computers back then, so I used a terminal hooked up to an MIT central computer.”
—Vincent Racaniello, 1981
Tough Choices
Who Needs Synthesized Poliovirus?
Viruses like polio, Ebola, and smallpox can never be eradicated because they can be created in the lab with a DNA synthesizer and the genetic code. Synthetically made viruses have the potential for both harm and good. Biological weapons can be created from them. But they might be altered to create new vaccines or novel systems to deliver genes as therapy.
DNA synthesizers automatically construct short sequences of DNA, which then can be assembled into longer molecules, including single genes or complete genomes. This technology became commercially available in the early 1980s; this particular machine was made in 1991. Courtesy of Applied Biosystems, Foster City, California
Continue to History of Vaccines
Smithsonian National Museum of American History main site
*************************************************************************************************
I WONDER IF OUR GOVERNMENT HAS GIVEN AS MUCH THOUGHT, MONEY AND EFFORT TO REGISTERING AND SURVEILLING THE POSSESSORS OF DNA SYNTHESIZERS AS THEY HAVE TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT POSSESS OTHER "POTENTIAL WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION"????
This is most troubling information. How easy IS IT for these things to fall into the "wrong hands?" Maybe THAT is why we saw so many microbiologists meeting UNTIMELY, SUSPICIOUS DEATHS??
Fair use for discussion/education purposes:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/polio/virusvaccine/pgenome.htm
The Virus and Vaccine, The Polio Genome
A genome is the genetic material of an organism. In 1981, two different research groups, Vincent Racaniello and David Baltimore at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Eckard Wimmer’s team at State University of New York, Stony Brook, published the poliovirus genome. They used an enzyme to switch the single strands of viral ribonucleic acid—RNA—to double strands of deoxyribonucleic acid—DNA—and then determined the sequence of adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine encoding the five molecules that are the substance of the virus’s existence.
Poliovirus lacks the ability to correct its mutations, so its genome evolves at one to two nucleotide substitutions per week. It is always changing.
In 2002, investigators at the State University of New York in Stony Brook used the published genetic sequence to synthesize a DNA version of poliovirus. Then they used an enzyme to convert the DNA to RNA and grew the virus in a cell-free extract. Animal tests showed that the synthesized poliovirus caused paralysis.
“The world had better be prepared. This shows you can re-create a virus from written information.”
—Eckard Wimmer, 2002
“I did not use any machine for sequencing the poliovirus genome. It was all done by hand—my hands! I used what was known as the ‘Maxam-Gilbert’ method, in which four different chemical reactions are carried out on the DNA. The products are then fractionated on thin polyacrylamide gels, which were poured manually, run, and then carefully removed from the plates, dried, and exposed to X-ray film. The sequencing ‘ladders’ were then read by myself on a light box and entered manually into a computer. But we didn’t have individual computers back then, so I used a terminal hooked up to an MIT central computer.”
—Vincent Racaniello, 1981
Tough Choices
Who Needs Synthesized Poliovirus?
Viruses like polio, Ebola, and smallpox can never be eradicated because they can be created in the lab with a DNA synthesizer and the genetic code. Synthetically made viruses have the potential for both harm and good. Biological weapons can be created from them. But they might be altered to create new vaccines or novel systems to deliver genes as therapy.
DNA synthesizers automatically construct short sequences of DNA, which then can be assembled into longer molecules, including single genes or complete genomes. This technology became commercially available in the early 1980s; this particular machine was made in 1991. Courtesy of Applied Biosystems, Foster City, California
Continue to History of Vaccines
Smithsonian National Museum of American History main site
*************************************************************************************************
I WONDER IF OUR GOVERNMENT HAS GIVEN AS MUCH THOUGHT, MONEY AND EFFORT TO REGISTERING AND SURVEILLING THE POSSESSORS OF DNA SYNTHESIZERS AS THEY HAVE TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT POSSESS OTHER "POTENTIAL WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION"????
This is most troubling information. How easy IS IT for these things to fall into the "wrong hands?" Maybe THAT is why we saw so many microbiologists meeting UNTIMELY, SUSPICIOUS DEATHS??
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