First Synthetic Cell

The media was flooded with the news of the creation of the First Synthetic Cell. The work done by J. Craig Venter and his team has truly created a new path down this scientific road of DNA research. The potential applications are enormous such as curing diseases, enhance the food supply and creating biofuels. On the negative, it can be harnessed for evil by creating biological weapons. As I believe that almost anything can be turned into a weapon, I downplay this notion and see the unbelievable positive contributions to helping preserve and flourish life on earth. Yes it is a beginning, which means we are many years away from practical application. The idea of creating a synthetic cell has now been proven, which is an enormous first step.

It would be unfair of me not to mention that there is a part of the population who believes there are severe moral implications with this science. The same holds true for cloning and stem cell research. My personal belief is that there is probably a line that we should not cross, therefore Synthetic Biology will need to be regulated when the time comes. You can read about the the viewpoint of moral concerns regarding this science in Wall Street Journal's reporting of the creation of the First Synthetic Cell at http://online.wsj.com/home-page.

This is a new science "Synthetic Biology", however from 100,000 feet for me it is still under the umbrella of Biotechnology. The use of living cells and their molecules to solve problems and make useful products makes Biotechnology a critical science in our daily lives. Scientific advances over the last 50 years have enabled us to understand how living organisms work—and how they can work for us. The key knowledge of Biotechnology is an understanding of cells, the basic units of life, and—at a still deeper level—the molecules that make up cells. Today, it is possible to create new varieties of plants with better nutrients for our diet. And the traditional fermentation processes used to make wine or beer have been re-tooled to produce cutting-edge pharmaceuticals for previously incurable diseases. The Synthetic Cell is a breakthrough that can lead to solving the tremendous problems we face today. Please read the article below about how these scientists created the First Synthetic Cell. I have also included interviews with J. Craig Venter in the two videos below. - Kenny Leibow

Scientists Make Synthetic Cell Using Manmade DNA



Science Breakthrough! Synthetic Cell

Source: SIGNON San Diego

First synthetic cell created by scientists

BY GARY ROBBINS, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2010 AT 11:41 P.M.

/ J. CRAIG VENTER INSTITUTE

J. Craig Venter (left), founder of Synthetic Genomics and the institute bearing his name, with collaborator and Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith.

An electron-micrograph image of the cells that were given computer-generated DNA.

Original report, including comments and poll: La Jolla's Venter creates synthetic cell

J. CRAIG VENTER

Age: 63

Career highlights: Biologist who developed techniques for accelerating the decoding of the human genome.

• Established the J. Craig Venter Institute in October 2006, with labs in La Jolla and Rockville, Md.

• Co-founded Synthetic Genomics of La Jolla to try to commercialize advances in genetics.

Collaborators include : Hamilton Smith, who received aNobel Prize in the category of medicine or physiology, and Clyde Hutchison, a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

J. Craig Venter, the La Jolla biologist who played a key role in decoding the human genome, said Thursday that his team has made the world’s first “synthetic cell,” an advance that eventually could help and hurt humanity.

Venter and his colleagues basically figured out how to design a bacterial cell on a computer. Then they used genetic engineering and chemicals that are essential for life to produce an entity that’s novel but not yet a truly living version of anything that occurs naturally.

This “is the first self-replicating species that we have on the planet whose parent is a computer,” said Venter, who was careful to add that he had not created new life from scratch.

Instead, he said his work in synthetics is meant to more clearly reveal how real cells work. Such research could lead to cleaner fuels, better vaccines and, on the dark side, pathogens used by terrorists.

Venter also said the discovery will invigorate synthetic biology, a field in which he has a deep financial interest. He co-founded Synthetic Genomics in La Jolla, which is trying to use genomics to create commercial products. His backers include Exxon Mobil Corp., which is paying millions for the company’s efforts to produce a new generation of biofuels.

His work over the years also has received major funding from the National Institutes of Health and other agencies that fight illness and disease.

Thursday’s announcement drew mixed reaction from scientists and ethicists. It’s also bound to generate controversy among various religious groups.

“This sounds like the (biological) chassis (that Venter) has been talking about forever, but it doesn’t, at present, have any practical use,” said John H. Evans, a sociologist at the University of CaliforniaSan Diego.

Nobel Prize winner David Baltimorecalled the milestone “a technical tour de force.” But he also said, “To my mind, Craig has somewhat overplayed the importance of this. … He has not created life, only mimicked it.”

Lawrence Hinman, a philosopher at the University of San Diego, said, “Obviously, much work needs to be done, but this is a crucial step forward in our ability not only to understand life but also to create it. It is from this that Venter’s discovery derives what will, I think, be its symbolic power.”

The finding was made by a national team of scientists, many of whom work at the J. Craig Venter Institute, which has laboratories in La Jolla and Rockville, Md. Their experiments involved assembly and production work carried out at a very tiny scale.

Specifically, scientists assembled pieces of DNA that were produced in the lab. This resulted in a longer strand of DNA that was designed to replicate the genetic code of a particular type of bacteria. That “loop,” as it is called, was placed in the hollow cell of a different type of bacteria.

The new synthetic DNA then assumed the role of the original DNA, which had been removed. This formed a synthetic cell that replicated, Venter said.

On Thursday, the institute outlined how the new technique differs from more conventional engineering.

“Most genetic alterations that people know about today are through engineering of crops, which involves adding or altering less than 10 genes out of the tens of thousands that are contained in most organisms or plants,” the researchers said in a statement.

“Synthetic genomics is different in that scientists start with digital information in the computer, which allows for the design of entire synthetic chromosomes to replace existing chromosomes in cells.”

The self-replicating synthetic bacteria unveiled Thursday has more than 1 million base pairs of DNA and almost 1,000 genes, the scientists said.

“It involves the complete replacement of genetic material in the cell,” they added.

Evans at UCSD said: “Some might say that (Venter) is playing God by trying to invent life-forms. I would argue that in this case, that’s not particularly relevant. American society already accepts intervening with life-forms all around us. … If you were to create the first synthetic human, that would obviously be a different story.”

Venter shares his vision for applying technology

J. Craig Venter of La Jolla said his team’s creation of a “synthetic cell” has altered his perspective of life. Here are his other thoughts during an interview Thursday:

QUESTION: What did you create?

ANSWER: This is the first “synthetic cell” that is controlled by a synthetic chromosome. The DNA came from four bottles of chemicals, and the design of the cell was done on the computer.

QUESTION: But this isn’t the kind of cell that would be placed in a human, right?

ANSWER: No, it is a laboratory cell. It has relatives that affect cows and goats, but it wouldn’t be placed in people.

QUESTION: Could you tell us more about the significance of the cell?

ANSWER: It is a living species. It is self-replicating. Its only genetic code is what we built into it chemically. Every protein is dictated by that genetic code. This is a new, independent species whose origin was the computer, not some genetic relative.

QUESTION: What’s the next step for your research?

ANSWER: We’re working on applying technology. Synthetic Genomics in La Jolla is where we have a program with Exxon to use algal material to create new fuel sources. It is a $300 million deal, and we think we will need new tools (like the ones used to create the cell) to produce billions of gallons of fuel on an economical basis.

We’re also trying to work with the National Institutes of Health and other agencies to develop vaccines against infectious disease. There are a lot of research avenues to follow involving biology, food, clean water and things that you and I can’t imagine.

QUESTION: How quickly would some of these things become available?

ANSWER: Well, the vaccine you get immunized with next year against the flu might be created with synthetic genomics.

We’ve said that our program with Exxon is on the order of a decade before we have (new) fuels for cars. We have learned not to overpromise. We want to overdeliver.

QUESTION: Is it true that you briefed President Barack Obama’s administration on this advancement?

ANSWER : That is accurate. We also briefed members of Congress last week. We are building on work that started in 2003 with money from the Department of Energy. Our work was reviewed by the White Housebecause it involves powerful technology that has some potential for creating agents that could do harm. We are working with the administration on that matter.

There is a modest risk, but any risk is something that we want to deal with. We also want to do the proper ethical reviews. This involves a philosophical view of life.

QUESTION: Did your work on the synthetic cell change your view of life?

ANSWER: Absolutely. It showed how dynamic life is. Real cells change from second to second, even though their structure looks fixed. If you take away their genetic code, the species dies.

Software-dependent species (like the synthetic cell) also are constantly performing cell functions, but we were surprised by how quickly they evolved.

The New York Times News Service contributed to this report. Gary Robbins: (619) 293-1228; gary.robbins@uniontrib.com

The New York Times News Service contributed to this report. Gary Robbins: (619) 293-1228; gary.robbins@uniontrib.com

The Diaspora Project

Last week a I read two articles in the New York times on my iPhone regarding Facebook privacy settings, which seriously concerned me. There is a lot of personal identifiable information exposed which can be used for identity fraud for example. There are many privacy settings you need to configure in order to protect your privacy on Facebook. This should be a concern to all Facebook users. Please click on this website for a New York Times article to learn how to use the new Facebook privacy settings, http://nyti.ms/7SGtJ9 .

When it comes to conducting business, social networking is becoming more and more woven into our daily fabric for business communications. The alternative idea of setting up personal servers with open source code to take control would result in a more secure method of creating and maintaining a social network; which makes it a great application for business. I personally use Facebook with my family, friends and alumni. In Facebook I take the time to adjust my privacy settings in order to protect my personal information; however I am a big believer in the concept being brought forward by the students heading up the Diaspora Project for both personal and business social networking. The fact that you own your data and securely control your social network eliminates the risk of fraud and removes solicitors from your network. Please read below the the two articles from Justmeans and the New York Times. - Kenny Leibow

Source: JoinDiaspora.com

diaspora /dī-ˈas-p(ə-)rə, dē-/
origin: Greek, διασπορά – “a scattering [of seeds]”
1. the privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all distributed open source social network

WATCH: Team Diaspora discusses the site.

Diaspora: Personally Controlled, Do-It-All, Distributed Open-Source Social Network from daniel grippi on Vimeo.

Source: http://nyti.ms/dpirYG
Four Nerds and a Cry to Arms Against Facebook

David Goldman for The New York Times

Ilya Zhitomirskiy, 20, far left; Dan Grippi, 21; Max Salzberg, 22; and Raphael Sofaer, 19, all students at N.Y.U., are trying to reinvent social networking online.

By JIM DWYER

Published: May 11, 2010

How angry is the world at Facebook for devouring every morsel of personal information we are willing to feed it?

A few months back, four geeky college students, living on pizza in a computer lab downtown on Mercer Street, decided to build a social network that wouldn’t force people to surrender their privacy to a big business. It would take three or four months to write the code, and they would need a few thousand dollars each to live on.

They gave themselves 39 days to raise $10,000, using an online site, Kickstarter, that helps creative people find support.

It turned out that just about all they had to do was whisper their plans.

“We were shocked,” said one of the four, Dan Grippi, 21. “For some strange reason, everyone just agreed with this whole privacy thing.”

They announced their project on April 24. They reached their $10,000 goal in 12 days, and the money continues to come in: as of Tuesday afternoon, they had raised $23,676 from 739 backers. “Maybe 2 or 3 percent of the money is from people we know,” said Max Salzberg, 22.

Working with Mr. Salzberg and Mr. Grippi are Raphael Sofaer, 19, and Ilya Zhitomirskiy, 20 — “four talented young nerds,” Mr. Salzberg says — all of whom met at New York University’s Courant Institute. They have called their project Diaspora* and intend to distribute the software free, and to make the code openly available so that other programmers can build on it. As they describe it, the Diaspora* software will let users set up their own personal servers, called seeds, create their own hubs and fully control the information they share. Mr. Sofaer says that centralized networks like Facebook are not necessary. “In our real lives, we talk to each other,” he said. “We don’t need to hand our messages to a hub. What Facebook gives you as a user isn’t all that hard to do. All the little games, the little walls, the little chat, aren’t really rare things. The technology already exists.”

The terms of the bargain people make with social networks — you swap personal information for convenient access to their sites — have been shifting, with the companies that operate the networks collecting ever more information about their users. That information can be sold to marketers. Some younger people are becoming more cautiousabout what they post. “When you give up that data, you’re giving it up forever,” Mr. Salzberg said. “The value they give us is negligible in the scale of what they are doing, and what we are giving up is all of our privacy.”

The Diaspora* group was inspired to begin their project after hearing a talk by Eben Moglen, a law professor at Columbia University, who described the centralized social networks as “spying for free,” Mr. Salzberg said.

The four students met in a computer room at N.Y.U., and have spent nearly every waking minute there for months. They understand the appeal of social networks.

“Certainly, as nerds, we have nowhere else to go,” Mr. Salzberg said. “We’re big nerds.”

“My social life has definitely collapsed in favor of maintaining a decent GPA and doing this,” Mr. Sofaer said.

A teacher and digital media researcher at N.Y.U., Finn Brunton, said that their project — which does not involve giant rounds of venture capital financing before anyone writes a line of code — reflected “a return of the classic geek means of production: pizza and ramen and guys sleeping under the desks because it is something that it is really exciting and challenging.”

And the demand for a social network that gives users control is strong, Mr. Brunton said. “Everyone I talk to about this says, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been waiting for someone to do something like that.’ ”

There have been at least two other attempts at decentralized networks, Mr. Brunton said, but he thought the Diaspora* group had a firmer plan. Its quick success in raising money, he said, showed the discontent over the state of privacy on the social sites. “We will have to see how widely this will be adopted by the non-nerds,” Mr. Brunton said. “But I don’t know a single person in the geek demographic who is not freaked out” by large social networks and cyber warehouses of information.

The Diaspora* crew has no doubts about the sprawling strengths and attractions of existing social networks, having gotten more than 2,000 followers of “joindiaspora” on Twitter in just a few weeks.

“So many people think it needs to exist,” Mr. Salzberg said. “We’re making it because we want to use it.”

E-mail: dwyer@nytimes.com

Source: Justmeans.com

The Diaspora Project: Grassroots Funding for an Alternative to Facebook

Much of the news around social media lately has involved Facebook, as concerns surrounding the site'sprivacy policies have remained in news headlines. With approaching 500 million users, however, Facebook is a giant force, and it remains to be seen if this negative publicity will have any impact - either on the site's policies or the size of its user-base.

Despite Facebook's ubiquity, there have long been other social networks that have vied to replace, or at least operate in the same milieu. And the grumblings in the media and among users have made this a good time for these alternatives to come forward.

One project in particular seems to have received a substantial amount of attention: the Diaspora Project. The brainchild of four NYU students, Diaspora aims to be a distributed, open-source social network.

Arguably, under normal circumstance, an idea like that, proposed by four unknown college student would not necessarily get much attention. But there are two interesting forces that helped propel them and their project into the spotlight.

A Good Idea and a Good Story: Interested in developing an alternative to the social media site, Dan Grippi (age 21), Max Salzberg (age 22), Raphael Sofaer (age 19), and Ilya Zhitomirskiy (age 20) wanted to build a social network that didn't acquiesce to the same data control as Facebook. They wanted their project to be open source, meaning they would share the code so that other developers could implement and improve it. They also wanted the social network to be distributed, that is, it would be run via the computers of subscribers rather than by servers housed in one location and owned by a single company. Data would be portable. In other words, you could control your data and move it easily in and out of the system. And your data could be kept private.

In order to support their design and coding work, they decided decided to post their project idea to Kickstarter, an online site that allows creatives to receive small donations to support their endeavors. The four students gave themselves 39 days to raise $10,000. They met that goal within twelve days. And then, a few days later the New York Times ran the story titled "Four Nerds and a Cry to Arms Against Facebook," attention skyrocketed. To date, they have raised over $150,000.

Grassroots Funding: It's a good story, and a timely one. But while sometimes this sort of media attention may provide a startup a funding offer from a major investment source, in the case of Diaspora, they opted for a grassroots funding effort. The Kickstarter site allows projects to accept a range of donation sizes, from small to large - from one dollar to thousands. In the case of Diaspora, over 2000 people donated $25. Around 1000 donated $5. While there were several large donors, the project did not rely on a small number of large investments to fund the project, but instead gathered small donations from a large number of people.

Diaspora is working on their alternative network now, although it's unknown what if any impact this will have on Facebook in the long run. Nonetheless, this sudden grassroots interest in and funding of an alternative, open source site marks an interesting juncture in social media.

Let's Get The Ideas Started

The purpose of this blog is to share ideas that can solve problems, improve what exists today, and create new concepts. This is a pretty broad scope of idea sharing with a range from curing deadly diseases to better ways of sharing media. This blog will include substance, research and multiple view points. I will also solicit ideas on significant issues facing us today. Innovation is not accomplished by intelligence and hard work alone. Creativity coupled with collaboration are critical ingredients in transforming ideas to practical application. I hope this idea blog can enlighten you, be fun and demonstrate the great minds crossing all continents and generations. Show Your Idea... - Kenny Leibow

Footnote:

Let me start by saying that I am not going to use the Light Bulb or Einstein images as symbols of this blog because those symbols are overexposed and not reflective of my personality. I am proud to say this is my second blog. My first blog was launched in 2008 about Heavy Metal music of the 1980s. You can visit by clicking Deniz and Kenny Original Songs. The symbol of this blog is the 1982 comedy of Night Shift because we all need some fun and laughter to help relieve the stress of everyday life, and to clear our minds to forge new ideas.

I remember seeing Night Shift when it first came out in theaters in 1982. This movie had an all-star cast like Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton and Shelly Long. Though it was Henry Winkler that drew me to the movie, Michael Keaton as the "Idea Man" was the comedian who stole the show.

Source: IMDb

Chuck Lumley (Henry Winkler) is a harried, put-upon nerd who gave up a prominent career on Wall Street because it was making him a nervous wreck. Now he works a peaceful, low stress job at the city morgue - but things change when he's forced into working the night shift.

 He's partnered with Bill Blazejowski (Michael Keaton, in an instant attention-getting debut film performance), a wild and offbeat "idea man" who likes to carry around a tape recorder so he can record his crackpot ideas - example, feeding mayonnaise to tuna-fish. His life takes a bizarre turn when a prostitute neighbour complains about the loss of her pimp. His partner, upon hearing the situation, suggests that they fill that opening themselves using the morgue at night as their brothel. Against his better judgement, he gets talked into the idea, only to find that it's more than his boss that has objections to this bit of entrepreneurship.