Are Scientists Redesigning Life?
“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “To talk of many things: . . . And whether pigs have wings.”—Through the Looking-Glass
PIGS with wings? Ridiculous! But scientists are beginning to predict that pigs may have wings in the future. More precisely, there is much talk of using a new technology called gene-splicing to create plants that do not need fertilizers, bacteria that mine ore and oil, and yeast that turns garbage into alcohol. In other words, scientists are starting to redesign living things.
Science fiction? Not when you consider what has already been done with gene-splicing, or recombinant DNA technology, as it is technically known. Here are some examples:
September 1978—California scientists using a synthetic gene for human insulin were able to make ordinary bacteria into tiny “factories” producing insulin. Insulin, of course, is used daily by many diabetics, some of whom are allergic to the animal insulin presently in use.
July 1979—Bacteria with human genes added produced a replica of the human growth hormone (HGH) molecule. At present, human growth hormone is the only treatment for pituitary dwarfism, which afflicts 20,000 people in the United States alone. The only source of HGH up to now has been the pituitary glands of human cadavers.
January 1980—Human interferon, a natural virus-fighting substance, was first produced by bacteria. Previously, interferon could be obtained only from human blood, with 65,000 pints of blood yielding only 100 milligrams of interferon (about 1/280 ounce)! Scientists are hopeful that interferon may turn out to be an antibiotic as effective against viruses as penicillin is against bacteria.
Scientists are enthusiastic about the rapid progress of gene-splicing experiments. If bacteria can be altered to make human insulin, HGH and interferon, what is next? “Anything that is basically a protein will be makable in unlimited quantities in the next fifteen years,” predicts a scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Just what is gene-splicing? How does it redesign living things? What does it mean for the future?