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Title: Biohacking: Get Ready for Homemade GMOs
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URL Source: http://www.uncommonwisdomdaily.com/ ... -ready-for-homemade-gmos-21663
Published: Oct 15, 2015
Author: Brad Hoppmann
Post Date: 2015-10-15 19:59:53 by BTP Holdings
Keywords: None
Views: 20
Biohacking: Get Ready for Homemade GMOs Posted on October 15, 2015 by Brad Hoppmann Have you ever heard of a "biohacking" party? Biohacking is basically figuring out various tricks and shortcuts to enhance our physical processes such as athletic performance, sleep, mental clarity, weight loss, etc. I first learned about the concept a while ago. Yet it wasn’t until recently that I heard about parties being thrown devoted to discussions of biohacking right in your own kitchen by modifying genetic organisms. Not only are discussions going on, but one company now makes it possible to do your own, homemade genetic engineering. According to a recent article on the CBCnews website: A Canadian company is trying to make it possible for anyone to be a "biohacker" and make custom genetically modified organisms in their home kitchen. Yes, you read that correctly. Homemade GMOs brewed right in your own kitchen! While this may sound like something out of Huxley’s dystopian novel Brave New World, the science is anything but fiction. The company responsible for this idea is Toronto-based Synbiota. And according to the CBCnews article, the company thinks: … making genetic engineering technology available to ordinary people will lead to new products that we haven’t yet dreamed of. All right. Now they’ve got my attention. *** Among the many logical questions that come to my mind here are: 1. How, exactly, does this work? 2. Is genetically modifying an organism something that people should be doing in their kitchen? 3. Are there any dangers to casually tampering with genomes? Some of these questions were actually addressed in the most-interesting CBC article, written by Emily Chung. In her piece, she describes a biohacking party held in Austin, Texas, during the über-trendy SXSW convention in March. Here’s how Chung described the scene: In between sipping cups of beer from a keg in the backyard, party-goers could use software on a laptop in the living room to design a custom plasmid — a loop of DNA — that will turn E. coli bacteria the colour of your choice. On the kitchen table, small tubes held the DNA sequences and connectors that let people build their plasmids for real. The bacteria and DNA were then combined in a process called transformation using a special tool. They were painted onto Petri dishes and popped into an incubator near the TV. By the next night, colourful spots were starting to appear on the plates. While I doubt I would want to spend time at a party learning how to manipulate the genetic code of bacteria, I do find the whole idea intriguing from many different perspectives. First, why would people really want to do that? *** According to Synbiota CEO Connor Dickie: "A lot of fear around GMOs today is in my opinion based out of people that don’t have an understanding of what a GMO is," he said, adding that part of the problem is that genetic technology has mainly only been accessible to researchers and big corporations such as Monsanto. "This technology puts the same power in your hands," Dickie said. "We’re making it possible for artists and designers and teenagers and mothers and students and educators to do real genetic engineering." I actually like this answer, as I think the democratization of science, along with tools that make scary ideas like genetically modifying organisms more familiar, is a good thing. Yet I am also a little frightened by the potential Frankenstein effect that may take place when humans — and particularly non-professional scientific humans — start tampering with Mother Nature. According to Synbiota, there’s no danger associated with its home GMO kits (which cost $395 for a starter kit), which they say contain a particularly weak strain of E. coli. Still, I think tampering with anything capable of self-replication is something that warrants the utmost caution. Like any kind of invention or new technology, it seems to me that homemade GMOs could be used for both good and nefarious purposes. And while this particular nascent-stage home GMO kit might not be capable of producing much real good or much real evil, it does represent a peek at a possible future of biohacking and bioengineering that’s controlled by the average person — and not the super-secret science labs of the FDA or Monsanto (MON). That’s reason to be both hopeful, and fearful. *** I know my readers have strong opinions on the use of GMOs in the food supply. But what do you think of the beginnings of this technology in the hands of the public? Is it a good thing, or does it cause you to cringe? Tell me your impressions on this subject, or on any of our past subjects, by leaving a comment on our website or by sending me an e-mail. Poster Comment: Let's whip up a batch of GMOs for dinner. What is on the menu? How about GMO corn, that is know to disrupt the reproductive systems of cattle to which it is fed. Any other suggestions? Seriously, this article deals with modifying the genetic code of E. coli bacteria. Did they ever think that this might be dangerous? I don't have $395 to get a kit. 
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