Perfect genetic knowledge
Dawn Field, "Aeon Magazine" (UK)
Translation: InoSMI
Maybe someone doesn't know, but over the past few years genomics has achieved great scientific results. For example, it became possible to read the human genome and correct all known errors. It may sound a little scary, but the dreams of science fiction have come true, including thanks to genomics. As Austin Heinz, executive director of Cambrian Genomics, said with aplomb last year: "We want to edit everything alive."
And only in 2010, a team of scientists led by Craig Venter from Maryland opened the doors to synthetic genomics for us, synthesizing a living organism called Cynthia for the first time in the world, whose father, in fact, was a computer. Cynthia is a primitive bacterium with a genome of half a million letters-nucleotides. And this is just the beginning. Work is already in full swing on the creation of synthetic yeast organisms and worms.
Two years after Cynthia's birth, sequencing gained such great momentum that it became possible to extract the genome from a fragment of the little finger bone of the so-called Denisov man, who was recently found in the Siberian permafrost. Note that the age of the find is about eighty thousand years. In 2015, the UK became the first country to legalize the creation of so-called "babies from three parents". Who are they? These are children who, in addition to their biological mother and father, also have a donor woman from whom a healthy mitochondrial genome is transmitted to the infant (mitochondria is present in every cell, it is a kind of biological energy accumulator).
New technologies not only radically transform biology, but also create moral problems. Not only ordinary citizens, but also scientists are already beginning to sound the alarm. When China announced in April this year that work was underway in the country to modify the human embryo, the mysterious abbreviation CRISPR-CAS immediately appeared on Twitter. By the way, CRISPR-CAS is a protein combination that protects the bacterium from killer viruses. With its help, scientists can modify DNA chains in living cells with high accuracy. For example, at one time it was shown that the fragment responsible for HIV can be "cut" from the human genome. In addition, it turned out to be possible to turn female individuals of the malaria mosquito into male ones and thereby stop the spread of malaria (after all, as is known, only females of this mosquito infect this terrible disease).
However, one of the developers of CRISPR, Jennifer Doudna from the University of California at Berkeley, strongly advised against even trying to change the human genome in any way until ethical issues related to this transformation are resolved. But, thanks to China, the beginning was still laid. And now, apparently, this new technology is beginning to fall from the hands of professionals into the hands of amateurs. So, more recently, Nature magazine reported that adherents of the so-called "biohacker" subculture became more interested in CRISPR, although one of the enthusiasts interviewed had, apparently, a vague idea of what he intended to do in the future.
Since the human abilities predetermined by genes, apparently, have reached a critical threshold, it is difficult to say what awaits us in the coming years. For example, will it be possible to solve some pressing energy problems of humanity with the help of DNA? So, one of the projects provides for the creation of trees that glow in the dark. And already, they say, you can pre-order seedlings, however, these samples have not yet been brought to mind and it will take a very long time to get prototypes. And perhaps the day is not far off when the streets will be illuminated with bioluminescent foliage, and ordinary incandescent lamps will disappear altogether, as many outdated and energy-consuming technologies have gone into oblivion.
But this is most likely not the only revolutionary project that is designed to play a big role in the next five to ten years. For example, Craig Venter is working on creating pig lungs that could be used in human transplants. We can't even imagine what a global effect this invention can have, because every tenth death in Europe is caused by lung diseases. Venter is also involved in the search for life on Mars using DNA sequencers. The scientist is developing methods of "biological teleportation", the essence of which is to sequence the DNA of microbes on Mars and then reconstruct their genomes on Earth using a 3D printer.
You can do the opposite: Venter and Elon Musk are discussing the use of sequencing technology to populate Mars with microbes created on Earth using a 3D printer. All these plans are amazing, but Venter and Musk are simply created to solve such complex tasks. However, get to the point.
By 2020, many hospitals will have genomic medicine departments that will develop treatment methods that take into account the peculiarities of the patient's genetic code. Sequencers – devices capable of making a genetic portrait of a person based on blood samples–will shrink to the size of USB devices. In supermarkets, somewhere between the cosmetics department and the pharmacy, there will be departments for DNA tests, where friendly consultants will help visitors answer a variety of questions, for example, such: will the child be able to become a good athlete? What breed of cat do you keep in your house? Is there a sufficient number of harmless bacteria, say, in the kitchen? Etc. Now it will be possible to get comprehensive information about any person by their genome. There will also be a fashionable topic for conversation – DNA. Everyone will only talk about it, about its structure and discuss the microflora inhabiting the abdominal cavity.
According to the forecast, by 2025, humanity will learn to sequence the genomes of billions of people, which will greatly push research in the field of oncogenomics. One of the founders of Apple, Steve Jobs, who died of cancer, became one of those who first drew attention to genomic medicine after he was diagnosed with cancer. Jobs' example was followed by other enthusiasts. Now people are taking into account their genetic characteristics more and more.
As soon as Angelina Jolie underwent a bilateral preventive mastectomy to reduce the likelihood of breast cancer, public opinion immediately became calm about the fact that the gene set of an individual became the basis for clinical practice. There was even a study on the so-called "Angelina Jolie effect". After the public statement of the actress, many women began to undergo DNA testing to assess the risk of developing breast cancer, because in the case of hereditary predisposition, the probability of cancer increases twice.
In general, for the inhabitants of our planet, the composition of DNA is increasingly becoming an individual means of identification. We already find some evidence of this in the field of information protection concerning genes such as ApoE, most of all known as the determinant of Alzheimer's disease. And so, in 2007, one of the discoverers of the DNA structure, James Watson, became the second person in the world to have his genome completely sequenced. However, the great scientist did not want to find out if he had the ApoE gene, because the great scientist was afraid that he would face the same fate that befell his mother, who died of dementia.
At the other pole is a supporter of, so to speak, "genomic openness" John Wilbanks, who honestly admitted that his genomic set allows us to talk about the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Our society, of course, will eventually solve these issues, but who will be the winners – the supporters of Watson or Wilbanks – is not yet known.
Perhaps in the long term, DNA will become one of those factors that will ensure the emergence, in the words of the American futurist and businessman Peter Dayamandis, of "ideal knowledge". Here Dayamandis hinted, probably, at the ubiquitous video surveillance that penetrates into all areas of our lives. Here's what he wrote: "Billions of sensors collect information wherever possible (from cars, satellite systems, unmanned aircraft, wearable gadgets, and so on), anyone will have the opportunity to learn about everything you want, anytime, anywhere, and request this information for further analysis".
Some of the things mentioned by the author can already be observed now. For example, in geography: thanks to satellite images, there are no more white spots on the world map. I would like to hope that the same situation will arise in genetics, where DNA testing will become so ubiquitous that it will radically rebuild the legal and social foundations of society. If genome sequencing becomes a ubiquitous phenomenon, then it will be impossible to hide or conceal anything, because it is impossible to ignore the individual structure of human DNA.
And now, the contours of the future are already being drawn on the horizon. For example, DNA testing is already widely used to prove the guilt of a suspect. Just one hair, a fingerprint, or a glass from which someone drank is enough to get the necessary amount of DNA and establish a person's identity. In addition, the FBI CODIS database contains individual information about millions of DNA. In the United States, some elite cottage settlements require information about the results of DNA analysis of pets. To do this, it is enough just to compare the data obtained from the excrement with those that are in the mandatory animal registry. The owner who allows his pets to relieve themselves in the wrong places is fined.
In Hong Kong, similar measures are already being taken against those who litter in public places. It is only necessary to throw away a piece of gum or some piece of paper where it is forbidden to do so - and the identity of the violator will already be established for certain by analyzing the remnants of saliva and sweat secretions, and his photo will be posted at the bus stop. Moreover, thanks to the latest advances in DNA personality recognition, it is possible to build a 3D image of a person.
What awaits us in the future? Probably, the creation of a consolidated genomic registry is not far off. It already exists in a truncated version and so far – on the principles of voluntariness. Currently, there are several projects that study the genomes of millions of people. The California-based biotech company 23andMe already has more than one million customers. In many countries of the world – led by, for example, Iceland, which has already managed to sequence the genomes of a third of its citizens on a voluntary basis – national genomics programs are being adopted. Another example: Kuwait recently undertook mandatory DNA testing for the entire population of the country as a counter-terrorism measure.
I can't even imagine what other socio-political consequences the presence of a genomic database will lead to. There is still some concern, because there is a possibility that this technology will be abused by public and private organizations. But I won't talk about it, because my interests are mainly scientific. The genome registry of every inhabitant of our planet will become one of the most valuable acquisitions of science in the history, however, these are just the first steps of genomics.
Now let's think about the totality of the DNA of living beings living on Earth. All known life forms, including humans, ultimately exist in a single system on our planet Earth – this pale blue dot shining in the cosmic ocean. Let's give these well-known life forms a name and call the totality of DNA on Earth a "biocode".
Scientists have recently determined the overall dimensions of the biocode. Knowing the information about the size of the genome and the biomass of various organisms, it can be assumed that the size of the biocode exceeds ± 3.6 × 10 31 million base pairs. Multiplying the size of the genome of all terrestrial organisms, starting from bacteria, bees and birds, by the number of organisms in all groups of living beings on Earth, we get a very rough approximation that the total weight of DNA is 50 billion tons. To transport such a large amount of DNA, one billion shipping containers will be needed.
What do we know about DNA? It's embarrassingly little. The variety of manifestations of life is simply amazing, especially if we are talking about the forms of life that make up the majority invisible to the ordinary eye: these are germs. Here we are referring not only to the trillions of microbes that fill the human stomach, but we are talking in general about all these invisible inhabitants inhabiting our planet. Unicellular, microbial life accounts for 50 percent of the biomass and 99 percent of the Earth's total genetic diversity. These ancient creatures are by and large poorly understood, although they regulate the biogeochemical cycles on our planet, helping to maintain life on it.
But the situation should change soon. One of the greatest achievements of the coming century will be a detailed description of the biocode, and not only the genomes of living beings, but also the ways of interaction between communities of living beings. Our first guess about its size is just the first step. Scientists will understand how its composition has changed in the past, and how it will change in the future. We are just beginning to understand how it functions.
By 2050, it will be possible to start identifying not only human genetic diversity, but also the entire biodiversity of our planet. We hope that the work on the book on DNA, reminiscent of the "System of Nature", first published by the father of the biological classification system Carl Linnaeus in 1735, will still be completed. And here the key issue will be the preservation of the genetic heritage of the Earth. Projects such as the Global Genomic Initiative undertaken by the Smithsonian Institute involve freezing samples of all currently existing organisms in order to sequence DNA in the future. The goal of this project is to wait for sequencing costs to decrease and preserve genomes that may disappear before they have time to read them.
Such an updated analogue of the Linnean book "Systems of Nature" should reveal not only the true evolutionary connections between organisms, but also the ways in which related genomes interact. At the moment, by and large, we are at the stage of compiling an inventory, an inventory of the DNA of all living beings, from Neanderthals and mammoths to microbes of the New York subway. There are also successes along this path, for example, scientists have obtained a significant part of the "panda biocode", which corresponds to two percent of the genomes of all existing pandas, as well as samples of the microbiome of this bear, representing a set of microflora capable of digesting cellulose, and thereby allowing this carnivorous animal to lead a vegetarian life, eating bamboo shoots that would otherwise, it was impossible to digest.
But scientists still have a long way to go. The total number of biological species on Earth can number more than twenty million. Only one catalog called The Earth Microbiome Project contains nine million species of microbes, and this is just one of many projects to sequence various branches of the tree of life. That's what Big Science means! Indeed, The Earth Microbiome Project is one of the most large–scale scientific projects in history, in fact it can be called the All-Planetary Genome Project.
Scientists who estimated the size of the biocode approximately compared DNA with computer software that generates all the diversity of thought. If DNA is the basis of all manifestations of life on our planet, and all living beings are somehow interconnected with each other, then the whole living world in all its diversity can be likened to a giant computer. It is thanks to the presence of living beings (i.e. imaginary software) that an oxygen atmosphere exists on Earth. Oxygen comes from software based on DNA found in plants and microbes that use sunlight and carbon dioxide to provide a chemical process – photosynthesis. Such a systematic view of the vital activity of our planet allows for further serious analysis.
Let's assume that the computing power of this computer is understood as the speed at which various information is processed, ranging from DNA to proteins. It follows from this that our planet has 10-22 times the computing power of the Chinese Tianhe-2 supercomputer, which is currently the fastest in the world. Modern society cannot live without computers, but now we need to take into account that humanity itself, in a sense, lives inside one. If we take this analogy as a basis, we have to admit that we don't know much about how this powerful computer works.
Of course, when trying to decipher the code of this world's greatest computer, we use only its individual parts, remaining largely unaware of the consequences. Another sixth extinction looms before us, which will lead to the extinction of more than 75 percent of all terrestrial species within a very short geological period of time. Since then, humanity has evolved, and now it undertakes to reprogram the biocode, and this process is on the increase.
In addition, there are other alarming events: a person cuts down trees, plants monocultures, hunts, catches rare and endangered species of fish, strikes at the still preserved biodiversity in some places, expelling various forms of life from vast lands, wanting to appropriate them for himself. And now the rate of extinction is most likely a hundred times higher than usual. If we use our analogy with a computer, then, by and large, extinction is like cleaning a hard disk, after which it is impossible to restore information.
Most of those who are concerned about the power of genomics are afraid of the appearance of so-called "breeding children" conceived using methods of genetic engineering, bio-terrorism, discrimination based on DNA, tracking information about the genetic code of citizens. A person is changing life on Earth with great speed, by and large without even realizing it. That's what we need to worry about.
Perhaps by 2100 the biocode will become largely artificial? And such an assumption does not look too far–fetched - we can assume that in our lifetime we will see not only the growth, so to speak, of the industrial production of living beings to order, but also face the problem of the disappearance of some living organisms, those that were born naturally, without the intervention of a computer. What is the future of genomics – whether it is hidden from our eyes or, on the contrary, clear as day, we do not know. But we can already see how powerful an influence it has.
Since the origin of life on Earth almost 3.5 billion years ago, the biocode has been constantly changing. One way or another, humanity will step into the future, regardless of all obstacles. And this step may even lead to the emergence of a new breed of man, created by future generations by chance or intentionally, or maybe in some other way.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
06.10.2015