Genetic Engineering Advancements: Leveraging Immune Cells and Microbe DNA
From augmenting immune cells to leveraging microbe DNA, developments in genetic engineering are constantly advancing.
Photo Source: Leaps
My friend, Grace, told me today that the last science class her grandmother ever took was before scientists discovered the double helix structure of DNA. As a biochemistry master’s student, Grace brought her grandmother into her research lab, where every day she amplifies, mutates, exchanges and sequences DNA, to show just how much times have changed.
When I heard this story, I was struck by two revelations. First, within Grace’s grandma’s lifetime, humans went from not knowing the basis of heredity to creating custom genes within organisms. Second, the vast majority of people don’t know how adept we have become at wielding the genetic code.
Therefore, in hopes to educate and showcase the true power of the single greatest scientific advancement ever, I highlight below the most impactful recent advancements in genetic engineering.
As I explained in my previous article “AI Meets DNA,” we are a long way off from directly engineering the genes of humans, but that doesn’t mean genetic engineering can’t be immensely useful to us right now. In fact, genetic engineering is solely responsible for many of the most effective treatments for diseases like cancer.
For example, if you have ever heard of “CAR-T cell therapy” or “immunotherapy” for cancer patients, both techniques are based on genetic engineering to leverage the body’s natural immune system to specifically target tumors.
Fortunately, our immune system has a lot of checks in place to make sure “friendly” cells aren’t attacked. However, this fosters an ongoing debate in genetic engineering on whether or not to augment immune cells to get around such checks and battle cancer cells.
In March, a research group at the University of Pennsylvania published their work showing that genetically engineering immune cells to see tumors as inflammatory greatly enhances their ability to remove cancer cells during treatment.
Another research group is combining the potency of genetic engineering with the power of stem cell therapy to target the hardest-to-treat cancers: brain tumors. By infecting genetically engineered stem cell populations with tumor-inducing viruses, and then injecting the stem cells into brain tumors, the natural brain immune cells were better able to clear the cancers. That sounds crazy to me, but hey, it worked.
When I first learned in my graduate genetics class that there is estimated up to 1,000 times more microbe DNA in-and-on our bodies than our own DNA, I was stunned. As such, recent advancements in genetic engineering have also focused on how to leverage the DNA in our microbiomes to combat infections. One company, SNIPR Biome, recently demonstrated how one of their genetically engineered microbes can clear an Escherichia coli (E. coli) infection and self-destruct to prevent it becoming an infection itself.
Another microbe-related genetic issue is the increasing presence of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, which the CDC has claimed is one of the most pressing public health issues. Antibiotic resistance is caused by a bacterium having the genes necessary to combat drugs. These genes can be passed to other bacteria, making antibiotic resistance spreadable and extremely dangerous. Fortunately, researchers are using CRISPR technology to block the spreading of antibiotic resistant genes and to remove the genes from already resistant bacteria, providing a potentially powerful weapon in the antibiotic resistance arms race.
As I am wrapping up my master’s degree in cell & molecular biology, I have the great opportunity to talk with genetic experts, to genetically engineer cells for my own research, and to hear about my fellow grad students meeting one of CRISPR’s inventors, Jennifer Doudna. I’ve had the chance to hear these brilliant minds discuss where they see the future of genetic engineering, and the possibilities are as vast as they are spectacular.
For instance, a friend of mine is genetically engineering hot spring microbes to produce hydrogen gas for clean fuel. In fact, one of the most promising futures of genetics is being able to engineer microbes to make materials, such as plastics and chemicals (much of the insulin diabetics use is produced this way), and to break down other materials, such as garbage and ocean oil spills. In the comments bellow, I want to hear what you would have an army of genetically modified microbes do!
Here at Don’t Count Us Out Yet, we are also very aware of what impacts climate change has and will have on society. A major threat climate change poses is making it difficult to produce food. Therefore, scientists are working on genetically engineering plants and animals to be resistant to heat and drought so we can eat Big Macs forever.
Moreover, the current and future advances in genetic engineering have the potential to reshape fundamental pillars of our culture, including medicine, resource production and the food we eat. And just think, Grace’s grandma saw DNA go from an unknown molecule to being the basis of our most advanced therapeutics. What will we see in our lifetimes?
Best,
Aidan for the Don’t Count Us Out Yet Team