Biopunk Lab Update 08/28/17, but mainly Fascinating Articles

Monday 08/28/17. I made zero progress so far on the lab construction, but I made a small amount of progress on my essay, and I read four short articles. One of the things holding me back was I started to fall back into my old minecraft addiction. The unfortunate thing about it is I felt compelled to continue playing even after it stopped bringing me joy. Since I did enjoy the game thoroughly when I played on a server with others, I removed on Saturday evening the files, and will leave them indefinitely until I can get it configured to access Ryan's server properly. The articles themselves were shorter than the others so I will get right to them.

1. Living Logic: Biological Circuits for the Electrically Minded (by Hackaday)
   • This article on hackaday discusses how to build a logic circuit genetically, by having certain genes active only when a specific signal has been given. If the receptor is sensitive to certain wavelengths of light, then you can get real-time control of a gene's expression simply by turning a light source on or off. More advanced controls are possible, this article discusses making NOT gates using biological substrate.
2. Cultivating Beauty and Good Taste by Sarah Geisler
   • This article summarizes other studies done, particularly a study looking into the loss of taste in the store-bought varieties of tomatoes. The original research searched the genomes of the store-bought varieties and compared them with others and fount about 400 under-expressed genes that are associated with the generation of compounds associated with flavor. Over the years, the tomatoes had the taste bred out of them! The article discusses the possibility of using CRISPR technology as well as hybridization to try and bring those desirable traits back into the main genome. I for one hope such efforts are successful, as I like tomatoes.
3. Nervous system manipulation by electromagnetic fields from monitors
   • This patent is for a system of altering a person neurologically by changing the light intensity of the monitor at a rate that is resonant with the nerves.
4. Topical tissue nano-transfection mediates non-viral stroma reprogramming and rescue
   • The article (what the link points to is the supplimentary material, which is probably better as the original article did not have a materials and methods section) consisted of research done at the Ohio state university. They developed a chip that applies an electric pulse, along with DNA and some sort of compound containing the DNA (the supplimentary info said nano resovoirs connected to nano-channels that were manufactured on a "silicon wafer using projection lighography and DRIE"). Applied to the surface of the skin, the device is able to genetically modify the tissue directly underneath the skin. If inserted into the body, it can modify the tissue there. It has primarily been tested on rats, whose legs were injured such that the wound would not get enough blood flow.
   • In the experimental group, modification changed gene expression, telling the cells under the skin to produce more blood vessels. Not only did the flesh produce more blood vessels, but the network of vessels merged with the main circulatory system successfully and drastically improved the conditions of the rats' legs. It was hypothesized that this technology could be used to turn humans into their own bioreactors, such as growing supplimentary heart or brain tissue directly beneath the skin and having the tissue transplanted once it's reached sufficient size.
   • I am looking forward to reading up on the supplimentary info here. When my lab finally does come together I look forward to learning more about lithography and DRIE, and seeing what can be done with it.