Download project oec - bli-research-synbio-2015-session-1

PROJECT O.E.C.
OIL EATING CRUSTACEANS
Angela Liu
TEXAS
BP Oil Spill Area
Where I live
INTRODUCTION
• BP oil spill (April 20, 2010)
– Gulf of Mexico
– 4.2 million barrels of oil
– One of the worst environmental disasters in U.S
• Direct result?
– thousands of native species injured/killed
• 5 years later?
– Millions of gallons of toxic oil remain on sea floor
PURPOSE
• removing oil left on seafloor
• soften the impact of future
oil spills
• How?
– genes of hydrocarbonchewing microbes +
germ cells of squat
lobsters
– CRISPR-Cas9 gene drive
method
Methylococcus capsulatus
COMPETING TECHNOLOGIES
Method
What
Dispersants chemicals sprayed on
surface oil that break oil
down into smaller droplets
Pro
Con
quick
Harmful chemicals
In situ
burning
the remaining surface oil is
burned
quickly burns
large volumes
Pollutes air
Oil-eating
microbes
microorganisms that are
genetically engineered to
break down oil
not bad for
the
environment
-cannot clean the deep
seafloor because it’s too
cold
- microbial predators like
protozoa exist
Booms
floating barriers blocking
oil from spreading
can prevent
oil from
spreading
- can only prevent oil from
spreading
- only useful in calm water
Skimmers
devices that remove oil
from the surface of water
very easy to
operate and
will collect
almost all
forms of oil
- only work in calm water
- Plastic and other trash
often clog them up
the DESIGN
• Methylococcus capsulatus
– an immobile, coccoid (spherical)
bacterium that has methane
monooxygenases (MMO)
• MMO are enzymes involved in the
bioremediation of oil
– Oxidize the hydrocarbon bonds found in
methane
• chemical formula:
– CH4 + O2 + NAD(P)H + H+ -> CH3OH +
NAD(P)+ + H2O
MMO FORMULA breakdown
• the process by which the enzyme MMO oxidizes
methane into methanol, breaking down the
hydrocarbons found in oil
the DESIGN (cont’d)
Inserting MMO into Squat Lobsters (chirostylidae)
• CRISPR-Cas9 method will be utilized
– a genetic engineering mechanism invented by
researchers and scientists at the Wyss Institute
for use in plant/animal cells
CRISPR-Cas9
• How does CRISPR-Cas9 work?
– Cas9 is a naturally occurring enzyme that
scans for foreign DNA from bacteriophages
(viruses) within the host genome’s DNA
– acts as a pair of molecular scissors -> cuts
specific DNA sequences within the genome.
– the cell attempts to repair the cut itself..but
the repairs are mutated
– a mutant gene sequence can be replaced
with another piece of DNA with a more
desirable sequence.
the DESIGN (cont’d)
• MMO enzyme will be inserted into the
fertilized egg cells of squat lobsters
(specifically chirostylidae)
• their offspring will all be transgenic animals
with beneficial oil-eating mutations
• squat lobsters are a wild species, it would be
very hard to maintain an altered gene
sequence
• Thankfully… the CRISPR-Cas9 gene
drive method exists
the CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Drive
• when the squat lobsters reproduce:
1. The Cas9 enzyme from the gene drive
squat lobster cuts off a specific gene
sequence from the wild squat lobster
2. The cell pastes a copy of a sequence
from the altered chromosome into the
break in the chromosome of the wild
type gene
• the altered gene drive will be passed
down through next few generations
GENE DRIVE in squat
lobsters
E X P E C T E D R E S U LT S
Truth Table (assuming design works perfectly)
MMO is
present
Using CRISPR-Cas9
Gene Drive
Majority of squat
lobster population
is oil-eating
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
ADVANTAGES
• Previous methods cannot reach the gulf’s sea floor,
on which the majority of the oil has now settled
• oil on the seafloor can easily be accessed by the
oil-eating squat lobsters, since the seafloor is the
squat lobster’s natural habitat
• oil-eating microbes are eaten by microbial
predators like protozoa, whereas squat lobsters can
survive much longer
• highly effective - only one wild squat lobster will
need to be genetically altered for the oil-eating
properties to spread throughout the entire
population (by using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene drive
mechanism)
ENVIRONMENTALLY
ECONOMICALLY
POTENTIAL PROBS
• CRISPR-Cas9 system is recent -> many
risks
• no way to fully test the effectiveness
w/out actually releasing them into the
wild
• unknown consequences of cutting a
gene sequence
– may delete a fxn the squat lobster
will eventually need
• economic and environmental rewards
outweigh the potential problems
TESTING
1. Initially tested on a single squat lobster -> see
its efficacy and oil-eating capabilities
2. Genetically modified squat lobster will be
released into a controlled population of wild
squat lobsters within an artificial environment
replicating the one that squat lobsters
actually live in
3. The squat lobsters’ living and reproduction
will be carefully monitored for a couple
months
4. Once the success of the genetically
engineered squat lobsters has been
confirmed through more than 5 generations,
they will be placed into the Gulf of Mexico
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WORKS CITED
"At the Bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, Corals and Diversity Suffered After
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill." NOAAs Response and Restoration Blog. N.p., 01
Apr. 2015. Web. 08 July 2015.
Das, Nilanjana, and Preethy Chandran. "Microbial Degradation of Petroleum
Hydrocarbon Contaminants: An Overview." Biotechnology Research
International. SAGE-Hindawi Access to Research, n.d. Web. 08 July 2015.
"Deep-sea Crustaceans." NOAA Ocean Explorer Podcast RSS. N.p., n.d. Web.
08 July 2015.
"Dispersants." Dispersants. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 July 2015.
"5 Years after the Gulf Oil Spill: What We Know - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News
Network, n.d. Web. 08 July 2015.
"Gulf Oil Spill: Still Poisoning Dolphins to Crickets." Student Science. N.p., n.d.
Web. 08 July 2015.
"Gulf Oil Spill: Still Poisoning Dolphins to Crickets." Student Science. N.p., n.d.
Web. 08 July 2015.
"Second Opinion Doctor." Second Opinion Doctor RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 July
2015.
"Slick Solution: How Microbes Will Clean Up the Deepwater Horizon Oil
Spill." Scientific American Global RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 July 2015.
"World Socialist Web Site." The Social and Economic Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill
-. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 July 2015.