DNA and a little more
Ivar Giaever
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
and
Applied BioPhysics, Inc.
Troy, NY 12180
and
Oslo Universitetet
Blindern, Oslo
Cloning
Cloning is not a
very precise term.
It used to mean:
take DNA from an
adult cell, now
when you read
about it, stem cells
are often used.
Some plants are easy to clone, for example potatoes.
McIntosh apples are grafts from ONE Canadian tree
Nobel Prize 1962
Jim Watson 1928-
Francis Crick 1916-
On April 25, 1953,
Crick and Watson
published in Nature
the famous paper:
"Molecular Structure
of Nucleic Acids“
Now know as:
The Double Helix
The length of
DNA in each cell
is ~ 1 meter.
A
person has 1014
cells.
The length of
DNA in a single
person:~1014 m
Distance to moon
is ~108 m, to the
sun ~1011 m and
to nearest star
~1016 m
Probably the most
famous sentence in
science:
“It has not escaped
our notice that the
specific pairing we
have postulated
immediately
suggests a possible
copying mechanism
for the genetic
material"
Please note that there
are no small men who
put the parts together,
it happens all by
random diffusion. It is
a self organizing
system
K. Eric Drexler describes the “assembler”
An “assembler” can make
everything, atom by atom,
including making a copy of itself
Bill Joy, founder and chief s scientist at
Sun Microsystem, worries in the
magazine WIRED about the “gray goo”,
how robots could ravage the earth
Cells are such machines, cells have
ravaged the earth, changed the
atmosphere to contain oxygen, and put
“green goo” all over the surface
e.coli
Can we make cars this way?
Big box full of parts
that fit into each
other. Shake it
vigorously and…..
Completed cars
come out
Double stranded
DNA from a small
virus.
Individual
molecules are not
visible, and the
double helix
appears as a long
thread
The genome can be sequenced chemically:
Bacteriophage phi-X174 Genome
GAGTTTTATCGCTTCCATGACGCAGAAGTTAACACTTT
CGGATATTTCTGATGA
GTCGAAAAATTATCTTGATAAAGCAGGAATTACTACTGCTTGTTTACGAATTAAATCGAAGTGGACTGCTGGCGGAAAATGAGAAAATTCGACCTATCCTTGCGCAGCTCGAGAAGCTCTTACTTTGC
GACCTTTCGCCATCAACTAACGATTCTGTCAAAAACTGACGCGTTGGATGAGGAGAAGTGGCTTAATATGCTTGGCACGTTCGTCAAGGACTGGTTTAGATATGAGTCACATTTTGTTCATGGTAGA
GATTCTCTTGTTGACATTTTAAAAGAGCGTGGATTACTATCTGAGTCCGATGCTGTTCAACCACTAATAGGTAAGAAATCATGAGTCAAGTTACTGAACAATCCGTACGTTTCCAGACCGCTTTGGCC
TCTATTAAGCTCATTCAGGCTTCTGCCGTTTTGGATTTAACCGAAGATGATTTCGATTTTCTGACGAGTAACAAAGTTTGGATTGCTACTGACCGCTCTCGTGCTCGTCGCTGCGTTGAGGCTTGCGT
TTATGGTACGCTGGACTTTGTGGGATACCCTCGCTT
THE SEQUENCE IS ALTOGETHER 5386 BASES (OR LETTERS)
LONG
IT CONTAINS 10 GENES, I.E. THE PHAGE MAKES 10
DIFFERENT PROTEINS
TCCTGCTCCTGTTGAGTTTATTGCTGCCGTCATTGCTTATTATGTTCATCCCGTCAACATTCAAACGGCCTGTCTCATCATGGAAGGCGCTGAATTTACGGAAAACATTATTAATGGCGTCGAGCGTC
CGGTTAAAGCCGCTGAATTGTTCGCGTTTACCTTGCGTGTACGCGCAGGAAACACTGACGTTCTTACTGACGCAGAAGAAAACGTGCGTCAAAAATCACTTTATGCGGACACTTCCTACAGGTAGC
GTTGACCCTAATTTTGGTCGTCGGGTACGCAATCGCCGCCAGTTAAATAGCTTGCAAAATACGTGGCCTTATGGTTACAGTATGCCCATCGCAGTTCGCTACACGCAGGACGCTTTTTCACGTTCTG
GTTGGTTGTGGCCTGTTGATGCTAAAGGTGAGCCGCTTAAAGCTACCAGTTATATGGCTGTTGGTTTCTATGTGGCTAAATACGTTAACAAAAAGTCAGATATGGACCTTGCTGCTAAAGGTCTAGG
AGCTAAAGAATGGAACAACTCACTAAAAACCAAGCTGTCGCTACTTCCCAAGAAGCTGTTCAGAATCAGAATGAGCCGCAACTTCGGGATGAAAATGCTCACAATGACAAATCTGTCCACGGAGTGC
TTAATCCAACTTACCAAGCTGGGTTACGACGCGACGCCGTTCAACCAGATATTGAAGCAGAACGCAAAAAGAGAGATGAGATTGAGGCTGGGAAAAGTTACTGTAGCCGACGTTTTGGCGGCGCAA
CTCAAATTTATGCGCGCTTCGATAAAAATGATTGGCG
TATCCAACCTGCA
CCTGTGACGACAAATCTG
Electrophoresis: the most used method in biology
Restriction enzymes
(Magic scissors)
Example of restriction sites
Everybody has a PERSONAL “barcode”
According to DNA analysis, OJ’s blood was all
over the crime scene and further more his finger
was cut. But the jury did not understand science
and he was found not guilty.
300.000 Generations since we
split from chimpanzees.
We are all descendants from
a woman who lived in Africa
10.000 generations ago
Women and men are not alike,
no matter how much we pretend
that they are
You are not what you eat, you are shaped by
your genes, both physically and mentally
Survival of the fittest
Dinosaurs are extinct
because they could
not compete.
Charles Darwin
1806-1889
The real competition is not between
various species but between DNA
sequences, the lucky ones survive.