Mutants Among Us! Can Humans Evolve?

In the TV show Heroes, hundreds of people discover that they have superhuman powers.  My favorite power from the show is Hiro's ability to master time and space.  This is the only power in all of science fiction that I would prefer to Nightcrawler's poof (from X-men).  Just like X-Men, Heroes explains that these special individuals are a more evolved form of human.  Is this how evolution happens?  Is it possible to wake up with a genetic mutation that gives you added powers?  Do mutants usually wear black?

Molecular Biology - The Portal to Biotechnology

Suppose a researcher wants a cell to produce a particular protein—say, Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP). Now that we understand the central dogma, the researcher's path is pretty straight forward. First, the researcher would need a copy of the gene, usually from an existing source, like jellyfish DNA. There are many ways to insert the gene into a cell, and more ways are being explored. Let's say for now that the researcher puts the GFP gene on a plasmid (a circular piece of DNA that is self-replicating in a cell). To cut-and-paste a piece of DNA, scientists use restriction enzymes, which are like molecular scissors. They recognize specific sequences of the DNA alphabet and sever double stranded DNA in predictable ways. DNA ligase is like the glue, that bonds strands back together. 

Setting up Shop: RNA to Proteins

Ribonucleic acid (RNA to its friends, including us) is a sibling to DNA. You may have noticed from the name that RNA is really just DNA without the "deoxy". Much of what has been said about DNA applies to RNA as well. RNA contains genetic instructions, is made up of an alphabet, can base pair with DNA or other RNA strands. However, there are some crucial differences. The alphabet is different—instead of T, RNA uses a U (for Uracil). While DNA is usually found as a double-stranded molecule, RNA is almost always single stranded.  You can think of RNA as a working copy of the DNA, a copy that is intended to be recycled after use. RNA is disposable, because it's main purpose is to serve as a template for protein machinery and protein machinery is a huge part of biotechnology.

Where it all begins - DNA

DNA, known to biochemistry geeks and molecular biologists as Deoxyribonucleic acid. 

DNA Stores Information

This is the information center of the cell. It contains instructions for the cell that describe how to reproduce, how to communicate, how to maintain itself, how to eat, how to sleep—put simply, what the inputs and outputs of the cell should be.  The DNA performs the same function in a cell that blueprints,  and managers play in  a factory. Blueprints determine how the machinery is put together, and managers  decide which machines and hardware to keep in the factory. DNA provides both functions by determining which proteins are created, and how those proteins are structured. 

Cellular Factories

Think of cells as tiny factories—imagine a chocolate factory—where there are inputs and outputs. 

In a chocolate factory, the inputs are cocoa beans, sugar, milk, maybe some nuts or fruit. Do we need to know the 40,000 character IUPAC name for cocoa to understand this? No! What are the outputs of a chocolate factory? Sweet, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate bars that can potentially be added to s'mores, which can then be input to your cells. The really interesting part of this process (overlooking the delicious chocolate output, of course) is the process inside the factory that turns raw inputs into a useful output. A lot of work went on inside the factory to make bitter cocoa beans into something worth eating. So it is with cells.

Biotechnology - the Alien World Inside

To understand biotechnology, it's best to start by understanding the "bio" part before moving on to the "technology".  

Building Blocks

As diverse as life on earth is, ranging from tiny bacteria to blue whales and aspen clonal colonies, there are simple organizational rules that tie everything together. Life is made up of building blocks that are shared by everything from ancient dinosaurs to paleontologists.

Don't Freak Out

We'll discuss what those building blocks are, so that the "technology" later on will make sense. If you're thinking "I hated third period biology precisely because I didn't get all that biochemistry mumbo jumbo!" don't bail on me now.