Bio-hacking You can do it too

What is bio-hacking Bio-hacking is a fairly new practice, it allows normal people like you and I get to explore biology. For example if you want to know how the dna of a plant affects its growth all the equipment to do so is at you’re fingertips. It could be called do-it- yourself-biology. It usually takes place in small labs (mostly non university) where all sorts of people get together to explore biology. It’s a cheap way to experiment without all of that expensive/fancy lab equipment. It involves dna and genes and if you don’t you don’t have enough knowledge its an easy way to learn as you go along.

Bio-hacking lab

The benefits and possibilities Having a way to allow people to understand biology could be a huge advantage to all of our society because we can work together to create new biotechnology. It can also help people who are against biotechnology to understand how it could help to solve current world problems such as diseases and genetic disorders. It is also an advantage to have the knowledge of biology because the world is changing and biotechnology is developing more. Soon enough gene editing could become something that’s involved in our daily lives.

The dangers and risks What could happen if all that knowledge and technology got into the wrong hands? Well its not that easy to do any serious damage with bio-hacking because people must follow strict guidelines to be able to participate. For example working with pathogens is restricted because that can be considered as a form of terrorism. Also creating a disease using bio-technology requires years of research and lots of skill. So if a terrorist decided to create a pathogen it would take many years and a tremendous amount of effort, research and skill. The cons outweigh the pros for creating something that could harm people so that possibility is extremely unlikely.

What is biotechnology (CRISPR) CRISPR technology is used for biotechnology. Basically CRISPR is used to alter DNA sequences and modify gene functions. It has lots of potential to correct genetic defects, treating and preventing the spread of disease and improving crops. CRISPR is shorthand for CRISPR-cas9. The protein cas9 is an enzyme that works like a pair of molecular scissors, capable of cutting DNA strands. This technology was developed and adapted from the natural self defence of bacteria and archaea. These organisms Use CRISPR-derived RNA and Cas9 to defend against viruses and other foreign bodies. They do so by chopping up or attacking the DNA of the foreign invader. When these components are transferred into more complex organisms it allows for "editing". CRISPR stands for "clusters of regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats" It is a specialized region of DNA with two distinct chararistics The presence of nucleotides repeats and spacers. Repeated sequences of nucleotides are the building blocks of DNA they are distributed throughout a CRISPR region. Spacers are bits of DNA that are interspersed among these repeated sequences. The spacers serve as a bank of memories which allows the bacteria to recognize viruses and fight off future attacks. Once a spacer is incorporated and the virus attacks again a portion of the CRISPR transcribed and processed CRISPR RNA or crRNA The nucleotide sequence of the CRISPR acts as a template to produce a complementary sequence of single stranded RNA. Each crRNA consists of nucleotide repeat and a spacer portion. The protein typically binds to two RNA molecules: crRNA and tracrRNA. The two then guide cas9 to the target site where it will make the cut. The genomes of various organisms encode a series messages and instructions within their DNA sequences. Genome editing is changing these sequences thereby changing the message. This is done by cutting a apart of the DNA and tricking a cells natural DNA repair mechanism into introducing the changes one wants. CRISPR Cas9 provides a means to do so

(problem/question) If living beings get genetically modified to eradicate a specific disease what can be done to prevent future issues developing from the genetically modified living being? What implications would this have on society?

 Crispr technology provides a way to genetically alter living beings dna to improve it. This technology is made so that we can adapt things to society, not the other way around. We are using this technology to get rid of things that are bad for the environment or to humans, while keeping the balance of the ecosystem. If this technology is taken to the farthest extent, curing all diseases and illnesses, a lot of production companies and stores will be put out of business due to the lack of medicine and antidotes needed. Doctors would only need to study physical injuries, most likely lowering their salary, ending out in less economy circulation. With doctors being paid less, fewer people are probably going to be tempted to take up the job. With few doctors, if a new disease outbreaks, we would have few doctors that know nothing about illnesses and diseases. The good thing that could happen is with less doctors, some of them could become scientists that focus on gene manipulation, and would help towards curing the new diseases. Also, with less people as doctors, they would go find other jobs, growing the economy. To prevent future diseases from developing and mutating its important that we know more about this technology before we start to use it to improve our society. We need to have a way to terminate genetically altered beings if they get out of control.

Conclusion Biotechnology is still developing and bio-hacking could be a good way to help develop this technology further. So we could improve our future and make the necessary to changes to better our world.