Regenesis is a book written by Dr. George Church of Harvard Medical School. This post has some notes from the book with the results of some of the experiments cited in the book.
• A project reprogrammed E. coli bacteria to produce hemoglobin that could be used for emergency blood transfusions.
• An experiment changed one bacterial species into another one by taking the gnome from one type of mycoplasma and transferring it to another type of mycoplasma.
• An experiment chemically assembled a 1.08-million base pair Mycoplasma mycoides genome and transplanted it into a Mycoplasma capricolum recipient cell, which was then transformed into a Mycoplasma mycoides cell.
• Genomes that have been synthesized include the hepatitis C virus, the polio virus, the phiX174 virus, and the SARS coronavirus.
• Multiplex automated genome engineering uses an electrical pulse to put 90-mers into cells and then chemically armors the ends of the 90-mer, coats them with a protein that enhances pairing, and then allows these pieces to go into gaps where the genome is replicating.
• Conjugative assembly genome engineering involves first applying the multiplex automated genome engineering technique and then mating multiple bacterial strains.
• A project constructed nano robot cages made of DNA containing cancer-killing antibodies.
• Naked mole rats can live for twenty-five years or more (compared to two or three years in house mice) and are extremely resistant to cancer.
• The naked mole rat genome and RNA were sequenced in 2011 and interpretation is ongoing.
• A plan has been developed to engineer E. coli bacteria to attack and destroy cancer cells.
• Experiments found that after being subjected to high levels of ionizing radiation, rotifers repaired their own double-strand DNA breaks well enough to produce viable offspring.
• The Neanderthal genome has been sequenced, showing the presence of parts of the FOXP2 gene, which is involved in speech and language.
• Cloned African wildcats have successfully given birth to kittens.
• A draft sequence of the wooly mammoth genome was reconstructed using clumps of mammoth hair, showing that the mammoth genome differed at 400,000 sites from the genome of the African elephant.
• An experiment to produce a precursor drug for the antimalaria drug artemisinin from yeast led to a billion-fold improvement in yield.
• Double mutants in the MSTN gene have lean muscle and low body fat.
• Mutants in the LRP5 gene have extra-strong bones.
• Mutants in the PCSK9 gene have 88 percent lower coronary disease.
• Double mutants in the CCR5 gene are HIV resistant.
• Double mutants in the FUT2 gene are resistant to stomach flu.
