Bioinformatics & Social Conundrums I202 Social Informatics Bioinformatics & Social Conundrums Mehmet M. Dalkilic I202 March 26 07 © M.M. Dalkilic

Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 “Systems biology is the science of discovering, modeling, understanding and ultimately engineering at the molecular level the dynamic relationships between the biological molecules that define living organisms” Leroy Hood Institute for Systems Biology http://www.systemsbiology.org/ Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 Outline (I) A quick (another) set of definitions (II) A set of possibilities (III) Questions about the possibilities (IV) Summary & Prelude to Discussion Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 Perspectives "There's millions and millions of unsolved problems. Biology is so digital, and incredibly complicated, but incredibly useful. …. It is hard for me to say confidently that, after fifty more years of explosive growth of computer science, there will still be a lot of fascinating unsolved problems at peoples' fingertips, that it won't be pretty much working on refinements of well-explored things. Maybe all of the simple stuff and the really great stuff has been discovered. It may not be true, but I can't predict an unending growth. I can't be as confident about computer science as I can about biology. Biology easily has 500 years of exciting problems to work on, it's at that level." - It is hard for me to say confidently that, after fifty more years of explosive growth of computer science, there will still be a lot of fascinating unsolved problems at peoples' fingertips, that it won't be pretty much working on refinements of well-explored things. I can't be as confident about computer science as I can about biology. Biology easily has 500 years of exciting problems to work on, it's at that level. Donald Knuth (very famous CS guy) Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 Perspectives Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. Edsger Dijkstra (another famous CS guy) Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 Life (Cenral Dogma) Replication Transcription Translation Life & Stuff Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 www.swbic.org/products/clipart/clipart.php

Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 Life (Cenral Dogma) Technology allows us to explicitly affect the outcomes and even the “Dogma” itself Replication ACTTCTG… Transcription TGU… Translation Life & Stuff Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 www.swbic.org/products/clipart/clipart.php

Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 Life (Cenral Dogma) Every organism has a “genome” or book of instructions Each book is hard to decipher—most are jumbled up—so we pick passages called “genes” All books are related through evolution, so understanding one book, allows to understand others (through genes mostly now) Fly Book ACTAAGAAA ATCCTCTG GTTC…. Human ACTAAGAAA ATCTTCTG GTTC…. Fly Book ACTAAGAAA Aeye-colorTG GTTC…. 1 (read book) 3 (look for similar passage) 2 (decode gene) Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Possibilities (obvious choices) Choose the “phenotype” you want! Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Possibilities (obvious choices) URL: http://www.expasy.org/sprot Click “Advanced search in the UniProt Knowleabase Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Possibilities (obvious choices) URL: http://www.expasy.org/sprot Click “Advanced search in the UniProt Knowleabase Type “obesity” in description and then click “submit query” Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Possibilities (obvious choices) 4. Click on LEP_HUMAN P41159 Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Possibilities (obvious choices) 5. Scroll to the bottom to see the “gene” product (protein) Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 Possibilities Screen population for “criminal” gene Screen population for “healthiness” Cure “old-age” Create biological weapon—make enemy blind, deaf, confused, obedient Change food to be healthier Grow body parts, blood, stronger animals Create machine/organic communication links to allow fast, efficient downloading of information to people Use DNA to validate purchase Clone wealthy, powerful, famous people Get a dog’s sense of smell Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 Possibilities Screen population for “criminal” gene Screen population for “healthiness” Cure “old-age” Create biological weapon—make enemy blind, deaf, confused, obedient Change food to be healthier Grow body parts, blood, stronger animals Create machine/organic communication links to allow fast, efficient downloading of information to people Use DNA to validate purchase Clone wealthy, powerful, famous people Get a dog’s sense of smell Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 Questions For my birthday, I’d like get Super-Hero genes—and some for my dog too! It seems as though technology is disinterested in the direction it takes—is this really true? How can something (technology) that might so radically change our existence, be so little scrutinized? Scientist often claim “science” (knowledge about our existence) is impartial. Technology and science have become inexorably intertwined—improving our knowledge and ways to affect it. Can this mix be divorced from morality, politics, ethics, and religion? Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

“Homework” & Discussion Nice collection of readings Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007

Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007 Thanks to everyone Email me if you’d like to discuss anything http://www.informatics.indiana.edu/dalkilic Thursday, December 27, 2018 Bioinformatics © Indiana University 2007