Actor Long Dong Silver

The DNA and the revolution that awaits us

The DNA and the revolution that awaits us - ALESSANDRO LONGO

From September 20 to 22 last was held in the fifth edition of the Venice conference " The future of science ", entitled" The DNA Revolution "(" Revolution DNA "). It was a very high level conference organized by the Fondazione Umberto Veronesi Foundation with Tronchetti Provera, the stunning scenery of the island of San Giorgio, the premises of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. There was the greeting of the Nobel Prize winner James Watson, who with Francis Crick in 1953 discovered the double helix structure of DNA, the genetic code of living cells, and the greeting of the other Nobel laureate Renato Dulbecco, a promoter of the Genome Project, organized worldwide to complete the decoding of human DNA, a key step on the path to scientific understanding of the functioning of living cells in its microscopic aspects. And it came to talk Craig Ventre, the scientist who burned the wire of the Genome Project Dulbecco, completing the first privately financed, the decryption of all the 25 thousand human genes, thanks to sophisticated computing methods. Just Venter, a controversial scientist who with his company Celera made a decade ago that joke in Dulbecco and co., Held an interesting conference that is currently conducting studies on the biology in all the oceans of the world. It is a ruthless man, but certainly very skilled, which has set the goal of creating an artificial bacterium, using the knowledge gained with years of experience in the biology of living cells. is so unpopular in the world of biological scientists who has been accused of going to the oceans for recreation, because they believe God wants to create artificial life. This without even trying to understand why Venter has taken on board (it is appropriate to say) in this business that takes him around the world. In his lecture he showed us the amazing development of computers in recent years, so the technological effort that fifteen years ago led to the decoding of the human genome, with hundreds of machines working in parallel in huge halls, today is done by one machine of moderate size, placed on a desk, in a fraction of the time so employed. Well, just Venter has become the icon of the mad scientist to fight because cynical, unethical and insensitive, that wants to destroy life on earth supplanting with artificial he's working on. But of course in reality things are very different: As he explained, his current studies in the seas around are designed to quantify the mass of DNA present on earth and its diversity. He told us that taking even a few gallons of water from any surface on the sea floor, indiscriminately and extracting the total DNA collected from the bodies, found a huge variety of genetic material and an equally great diversity of types, such as to embarrass any previous prediction and that, even in places so inhospitable that until recently were thought to be almost uninhabited by microorganisms, such as the Dead Sea. His other project is to be able to change the species of a cell: injecting an entire chromosome of a species of bacteria (and therefore all of its genetic material) in a bacterium of a different species, scored a bacterium diploid (ie with two chromosomes, although a bit 'different). Over time, the injected chromosome is recognized by the host cell and then begins to be transcribed, translated and replicated. Injected into the chromosome were previously added to the genes that code for proteins that can specifically degrade the host cell chromosome. In this way, after some time, with the wild times the cell returns haploid, meaning a single chromosome, but of another species. This exchange causes the cell structural and metabolic changes such as to perfectly recreate those of the species of origin of the chromosome. Then the bacterium changes actually present no particular problems of survival. studies are in progress of course, but for now are finding it difficult to replicate the experiment with more complex cells of bacteria, such as yeast. The medical uses that can open these studies are still far, but several. The most interesting seems to be able to change species to stem cells of an animal to make them fully human and use up us and to avoid, therefore, the well-known ethical problems encountered in the field of human stem cells. And even this is no small thing. Others believe that God and want to create artificial life! This was just one example, that the conference provided us with the enormous work that biologists around the world are carrying out since the discovery of Watson and Crick and the deciphering of the human genome completed by Dulbecco and Venter ten years ago. The subject is so complex that no wonder that the last 60 years of research have produced striking results (have not eradicated cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's as always like to be listed in the press) Scientists have not discouraged from continuing in this arduous work in their laboratories closed. The group of scientists who have marched to the conference offered an extraordinary view of men scholars, capable, tough, indomitable. seems that the functional structure of living organisms, quibble over every devise pretexts to complicate the work of these men. The fact is that scientific discoveries in biology does not come out like the rabbit from the hat of the magician, are made of countless small steps often insignificant in themselves, but needed to make up the wonderful and huge mosaic of biology. Faced with this it is clear the difficulty of the poor journalists who must explain to the public in serving the waste of resources (very few in Italy, unfortunately) spilled on these studies. That's why I always flaunted the banner: "another step towards the defeat of cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's." Otherwise people will not even take the trouble to read the article. It reminded of the words of Dulbecco when, in 2001 the announcement of the completion of the genome project, before the triumphant titles of newspapers, he hastened to cool the enthusiasm pointing out that you know how it's done is one thing, another is to understand how it works : The bulk of the work was beginning. But the papers now read: "the royal road to the cure of cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's is now down, we will see the beautiful, the world is changing." And there were even threatening the reactionaries who shouted: "What right have we to put their hands in the principles of 'divine' life?". Nature will rebel against us and we regret it! Let us remember what happened when we put your hands in the basic structure of the atoms that make up all creation! The consequences of the atomic bomb we have seen them all and we had to repent! And instead, both in the atom in biology have been many positive results: with the atom make bombs, but we also produce non-polluting energy with which we all live better than we were 100 years ago and in biology, thanks to the work of people like Venter, as we have explained, scientists in Venice, we are now able to produce insulin artificial diabetes, artificial skin for burns, plant additive vitamins for people who die of scurvy or suffer from blindness due to the endemic poverty of food available, more productive crops or to help deal with more confidence the impetuous population growth that is choking the earth, and much, much more we prepare in the laboratory. One of the main contributors Umberto Veronesi of the organization of the conference was Chiara Tonelli, Professor of Genetics at the University of Milan, where he directs a laboratory of plant molecular genetics, and a member of numerous committees of molecular biology at both national and international: the advisory board of the CNR for biological and medical science, the technical-scientific committee of the Ministry of Environment, EPSO (European Plant Science Organization) el'Embo (European Molecular Biology Organization). I wanted to list only some of the titles of Tonelli, neglecting his numerous other publications, to give a partial indication of the level of the Characters who attended the conference. In his lecture explained to us the work that is taking place in the vegetable field to tackle major global issues concerning pollution, hunger, endemic diseases, malnutrition, lack of water. The subject is very controversial because it deals with GMOs, that is, genetically modified organisms. But genetic manipulation is essential if we are to address these issues with the necessary effectiveness. We are producing GM plants that do not require pesticides because they are resistant to pest attacks, so it increases production, reduces pollution and the cost of the products, therefore, are becoming increasingly popular. We produce plants that grow in dry conditions and have no need for fertilizer and, therefore, do not require tillage, saving and productivity benefits and plants to be used for the production of biofuel ", ie fuel of plant origin nonpolluting. Also, plants that produce vaccines, so we ate care for and prevent epidemic diseases and, again, plants that clean up the soil. In short, developments and potential of GM food are endless and there really wonder, when faced with so many advantages, which can never be the objections that many move to these new technologies, given the economic, environmental, social, global, energy, medical and human rights that allow it. If you want to look at the answers to the objections raised to the GM, (risks, invasiveness, biodiversity, allergies, etc..) Should go and read the booklet that the agile Tonelli has written with Veronesi: " What are genetically modified " (Sperling), showing great ability in popular topics such complex, with no escape any criticism, coming from any pulpit. From supporter of GM, I was allowed to make one observation, but the "biofuel" is really so necessary to produce it? Not escape, so the land where food crops in character, as seen, there is so much need? And then what do we do? We grow plants and then burn and produce other Co2? This contradiction is not a double? Quiet, I replied, there is an answer to these trivial questions: while the production of CO2 due to combustion of "biofuels" is offset by the absorption of CO2 from vegetation grown, so production and combustion of "biofuels" is a complex process to budget zero CO2 and then to use the land for cultivation are not excluded food than would otherwise be unproductive. But amazing world that you're parrying before! And to think that everything has been set in motion in 1953 when the two English scholars, in a laboratory at the University of Cambridge, began to study the double helix of DNA. It is an epochal revolution, comparable to the invention of agriculture of our primordial ancestors.
sandro.longo @ libero.it

post By www.Kriagen.it