Control Engineering

Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)

Gene sequencing: A routine operation?
January 28, 2008

OK, maybe I'm a bit fixated on this genetically engineered biofuels thing, but I have this sneaking suspicion that some significant events are not far away that will ultimately change the energy industries in ways hard to imagine.

My issue of The Economist that arrived over the weekend has another story about Dr. Craig Venter, continuing the story of his work to create the bacteria Mycoplasma genitalium. Again, they bring up the discussion of biofuels.

But even more interesting, the article discuss the fact that Venter and his team have effectively outsourced some of the processing for this project:

"The team placed orders for the cassettes (Genetic sub-assemblies of four or five genes.) with three firms that turn such things out routinely." Later in the article the author makes a similar point: "Dr. Venter is also a practical man, who wants to turn genomics into technology. Indeed, one of his other enterprises is a firm called Synthetic Genomics and he is one of the leading lights of the emerging field of synthetic biology. This seeks, among other things, to create a parts list of biological components, such as DNA cassettes that could be ordered from catalogs in the way that electronic components can be."

Now that's an interesting concept, to create organisms to order that are capable of creating all manner of useful stuff. Imagine how the world geo-political map would change if almost every country could create its own fuels from inexpensive feedstocks that would have no long-term global warming implications. Something to think about. Keep at it, Dr. Venter.

Posted by Peter Welander on January 28, 2008 | Comments (0)