Assignments

Homework:

• Find and describe 3 genetically modified organisms.
• Describe the traits
• Find out the modification methods
• Extra credit: find gene/gene sequence that has been changed

Sakura in Ueno Park

https://news.mynavi.jp/techplus/article/20220325-2302935/

Although it is not “GMOs” as it is commonly referred to, I am taking it up here because it is a topic near my workplace and I found it interesting.

The following is a quote from the article linked above.

The Somei-Yoshino tree has been clonally propagated by grafting and is now enjoyed not only in Japan but also around the world. The genome arrangement of Someiyoshino has been thought to be common. In reality, however, single nucleotide mutations occur due to somatic mutations during reproduction.

In this study, the researchers believe that the genealogy of each tree can be located by examining the single nucleotide mutations. In addition to the four trees near the Komatsunomiya statue, 46 Someiyoshino trees planted in 19 prefectures across Japan, including Hirosaki Park in Aomori Prefecture to the north, Mochioka Park in Miyazaki Prefecture to the south, and cherry trees returned from Washington D.C. in the United States, have been studied. The leaves were used for genome analysis.

As a result, 684 single nucleotide variants were found in the sequence data of 46 Someiyoshino, of which 71 displacements were found to be common to two or more Someiyoshino. Clustering of each Someiyoshino based on these mutations revealed that Someiyoshino throughout Japan can be divided into two major groups, and one of these groups can be further divided into at least five clonal lineages.

It was also found that the four Somei-Yoshino in Ueno Park were divided into different clonal lineages from each other. The research team explains that these four Somei-Yoshino trees are considered to be the parent trees (clonal parents), which were grafted and spread throughout the country.

I went to see the cherry tree that is considered to be the origin of someiyoshino in Japan.

Banana vaccines

The idea seems to have been popular around 2000 and there are not many recent articles about it, but apparently, vaccine-infused bananas were being developed.

This is one example of what is called “edible vaccines,” which is based on the bizarre idea of using genetic engineering to give the edible parts of fruits and vegetables the functionality of a vaccine.

Apparently, practical problems such as allergic reactions, social resistance to GMOs, and hybridization with wild species were more significant than the technical difficulties of incorporating the genetic information of vaccines into fruit.

ref:

A Needle or a Banana: Whatever Happened to “Edible Vaccines”?
https://www.howplantswork.com/2016/07/16/a-needle-or-a-banana-whatever-happened-to-edible-vaccines/

Super Pig

Pigs resistant to the highly lethal porcine reproductive and respiratory distress syndrome (PRRS) virus.

PRRS is a virus that causes respiratory distress and death in young pigs and abortion or stillbirth when pregnant sows are infected.

The following is my translation of Newsweek’s Japanese edition

The PRRS virus infects pigs using CD163, a receptor on the surface of cells. The research team therefore used pig cells from which a portion of CD163 had been removed by genome editing to observe their response to the virus. The team announced in February 2017 that they had confirmed that cells obtained by genome editing showed resistance to the PRRS virus.

The team also generated CD163 genome-edited pigs with the help of Genus, a leading animal genetics research and development company in the UK. They exposed several genome-edited pigs to the PRRS virus and confirmed that not only cells but also live pigs were not infected by the virus.

ref:

Gene-edited pigs are resistant to billion dollar virus
https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2018/gene-edited-pigs-are-resistant-to-billion-dollar-v

Scientists Created Low-Fat Pigs By Editing Their Genes With CRISPR: Finding A Happy Medium | TIME
https://youtu.be/rv0rxgInmJ8

Personal Project

update magnetic stirrer

The number of magnets attached to the fan was increased from one to two so that the rotor could rotate properly.