Team:UANL Mty-Mexico/project
From 2014.igem.org
Project |
|
Overview Since the adoption of the toggle switch [1] and logic gates [2] through the use of synthetic gene circuits, synthetic biologists have demonstrated that cells can be programmed as computers. Subsequently, the component problem [3] drove scientists to the generation of additional parts in order to make possible such programming of living cells. As a next step in bioprogramming, our team designed a strategy to hack programmed cells in situ. We believe that several applications will emerge from our conception, some of them approaching biosafety methods for the release of GMOs into the environment.
Speaking about computer systems, the word "hacking" has two definitions [4]. The first one, the most commonly known in the globe, refers to the action of breaking into computer systems to sabotage, rearrange/reprogram, and/or monitor a system, the information contained in the system and how the system is programmed . The second one, rarely used in mainstream context, refers to the advanced understanding of computer systems.
Experts in biology are recently being called biohackers. However, in our work we refer to the term as the ability to sabotage or rearrange/reprogram DNA codified programs in a cell.
Every year, students' efforts result in valuable biological machines with exploitable applications. Unfortunately, concerns about their release into the environment restrict their exploitability. Being able to hack the genetic composition of an organism in situ would allow to control genetically modified organisms (GMOs) if they became a problem.
References
|