Desktop Genetic Engineering

by Kevin Kelly

I spent a day recently a biotechnology trade show, snooping around the aisles of plumbing and lab gear to see how close we are to having gene equipment that would work in a suburban garage. I was looking for off-the-shelf components that could be assembled by a dedicated individual into a lab for homebrewed DNA. I was surprised by how close it has come.

While most of the equipment for biotechnology is either delicate but cumbersome laboratory research instruments, or massive industrial/chemical plumbing for production purposes, there are a couple of items that have miniaturized the research methods into a suggestive desktop space. The leader in self-contained DNA coding gear is Applied Biosystems. Their star contraption is a table-top box linked to a Macintosh computer that will assemble a short string of DNA from the order that you type into the Mac.

The unit generates the DNA sequence from the some four amino acids that cellular DNA does. In this case the amino acids are provided in small bottles in the front of the box, along with bottles of solvent to drive the process. The DNA is "outputted" into a tiny capillary tube. While the machine is 99.8% accurate in what it constructs, the major (and it is major) drawback is that it can assemble sequences that are no more than 180 units long, which would make one short gene, at most. (Genes, like words, vary in length.) Since human genes come in the order of about one billion units, there is a way to go in improvements. On the other hand, since the alteration of even one gene can make a big difference in a living organism (many congenital diseases are due to a single gene), there is still power in being able to rewrite a couple of hundred units. A complementary box made by Applied Biosystems works in reverse. Rather than going from code to DNA, it goes from DNA to code. It takes a bit of existing DNA and "reads" its sequence out as a display on the computer - ATTCGGACA, etc., for instance.

Not only can this verify a sequence one builds, but its main purpose is to unravel the genetic code encrypted in all living things. It too is severely limited in the amount of DNA it can handle at one time. But the task of deciphering chromosomes that are 5 million genes long would be a bummer without it. The two machines work as a pair. Both together would fit onto a kitchen countertop. These units by themselves are not enough to do biotechnology research. Sundry other hi-tech items, as well as low-tech ones like incubators, cold rooms and basic labware, are essential. But these two systems ore the heart of the hard work; they automate what was tedious and unpredictable toil just a few years ago.

I'd guess that true basement biotechnology is still at least a decade away, if only because of the price $50,000 for each of these machines alone) and the expertise Ph.D) needed to get them going.

- Kevin Kelly

Information from: Applied Biosystems, Inc., 850 Lincoln Center Drive, Foster City, CA 94404.