modifying our DNA for everyday life

i was thinking to myself fish have anti freeze in their blood that stops them from freezing
would it be possible to put that same thing in our blood for exploring antarctica?

etc if any1 knows please post even if its just another idea i would be interested in any posts

NOTE:the following link is where tomatoes are modified but i think that the same princable could be used in humans.

Links



[edit on 4-4-2005 by klain]

that sounds like it would be cool but I think antifreeze is pretty...lethal

biological chemicals of course not the actual stuff you put in your car

A little more information if anyone needs any more

The expression of winter flounder liver-type antifreeze protein (wflAFP) genes is tissue-specific and under seasonal and hormonal regulation. The only intron of the major wflAFP gene was demonstrated to be a liver-specific enhancer in both mammalian cell lines and flounder hepatocytes. Element B, the core enhancer sequence, was shown to interact specifically with a liver-enriched transcription factor, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein [alpha] (C/EBP[alpha]), as well as a presumptive antifreeze enhancer-binding protein (AEP). In this study, the identity of the rat AEP ortholog was revealed via its DNA–protein interaction with element B. It is a helicase-domain-containing protein, 988 amino acids in length, and is homologous to mouse Smubp-2, hamster Rip-1 and human Smubp-2. The specific binding between element B and AEP was confirmed by South-Western analysis and gel retardation assays. Residues in element B important to this interaction were identified by methylation interference assays. Mutation on one of the residues disrupted the binding between element B and AEP and its enhancer activity was significantly reduced, suggesting that AEP is essential for the transactivation of the wflAFP gene intron. The rat AEP is ubiquitously expressed in various tissues, and the flounder homolog is present as shown by genomic Southern analysis. The potential role of AEP in regulating the flounder AFP gene expression is discussed.

Keywords: antifreeze protein (AFP); DNA-binding protein; antifreeze enhancer-binding protein (AEP); helicase-domain-containing protein; transcriptional regulation.

Abbreviations: AFP, antifreeze protein; wflAFP, winter flounder liver-type AFP; wfsAFP, winter flounder skin-type AFP; C/EBP[alpha], CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha; AEP, antifreeze enhancer-binding protein; GH, growth hormone; AP-1, activator protein-1; MBP, maltose-binding protein; HNF3, hepatocyte nuclear factor 3; CAT, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase

Thats pretty kewl, I mean if you could put the anti-freeze gene in humans, we could successfully be cryogenicly frozen.

more links:

Designer babies

i like the part about the jellyfish mouse hybrid (excluding deformities)

i have recently found out that people are going to clone horses for scientific research go progress!!!!

if this is possible, there would be a lot of other DNA-"Modifications" usefull...

Hot topic anyway, I don´t wanna know what the international military "develope"
something like DNA-Manipulation Lab´s

(Isn´t that against the law to modify a DNA?)

Anyways good thought, klain ride on!

cheers yeh i dont know too much about the laws behind it
i think that a lot of the laws are pointless though as more people will research genetics privatly in a new age black market if our morals ar'nt put aside then research and experiments will go on illiegally and much will be gained

heh im just thinking how alike tree frogs are and windows washers lol i mean forget the lift ffor washing sky scrappers get your own window washermen with built in tree frog sucktion cups

Originally posted by dacruz
(Isn´t that against the law to modify a DNA?)

It's not against the law to modify DNA. If it were, I'd be out of a job. There are restrictions (in the U.S.) re: which organisms can be modified and to what extent they can be modified. For example, in this country (US) it's against the law to genetically engineer brassica oleraca, which includes broccoli, kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, cauliflower, probably a couple of others that I am not thinking of. Of course that's just in the US, over in SEAsia, they modify the genomes of pretty much anything they can get their hands on.

Also, you aren't supposed to grant antibiotic resistance to any organisms via chromosomal (nuclear) mutations. Antibiotic resistance should only be granted via extrachromosomal genetic information.

Of course... who's really checking up on these things, and how often? I don't know who it is... but based on the amount of time I've been doing this, and the fact that I don't know who 'they' are, suggests that visits to genetics labs, and investigations as to which organisms are being modified are few and far between.

ok so your saying that if some weird crazy nut probably sum1 like me could get away with creating a half man half goat hybrid i knw some animals have some of ours like chimaras or what ever their called

Originally posted by klain
ok so your saying that if some weird crazy nut probably sum1 like me

could get away with creating a half man half goat hybrid i knw some animals have some of ours like chimaras or what ever their called

Well... as you point out, chimeras already exist... at least at the cellular level. However, I think that chimeras are generally constructed with non-pluripotent cells - cells that have already differentiated and can't form all other cell types. So, I don't believe it would be possible to take the current chimeras to the organismal level. Were we to make chimeras using stem cells from two different species, it's possible that they could differentiate into a distinct organism, though highly unlikely.

like i said above genetics are the way forward.

i also think that we as a race should do somthing usefull instead of bringing species to the edge of extinction we should start creating life and wiping out diseases to a greater extent