So apparently it’s possible to “3D print” a virus (biological, not computer) for an easy thousand bucks.

https://recode.net/2014/05/05/autodesk-builds-its-own-virus-as-the-software-giant-develops-design-tools-for-life-itself/

Autodesk Builds Its Own Virus, as the Software Giant Develops Design Tools for Life Itself

May 5, 2014, 6:00 AM PDT

By James Temple

Autodesk, which develops design software for building very big things, just built a very small thing.

Its own virus.

The San Rafael, Calif., company has revealed to Re/code that last month it produced a synthetic Phi-X174 bacteriophage, a virus that infects the E. coli bacteria but is totally benign for humans. They conducted the experiment in a controlled lab setting with the help of Dr. Paul Jaschke of Stanford University.

The effort was a sort of scientific homage to the work of the J. Craig Venter Institute, which first produced the self-replicating synthetic virus back in 2003, following a more than five-year research effort. In Autodesk’s case, it took a little more than two weeks and about $1,000.

That achievement says a lot about how far the science of synthetic biology has come — and a lot about where Autodesk is going.

“These viruses started their existence as a file on my laptop and a number with a DNA synthesis vendor!” said Andrew Hessel, a distinguished researcher with Autodesk’s new Bio/Nano Programmable Matter group, in an email.

“It’s a 3-D printed virus,” he added. “With further development of the process, the designs, the design software — we can help scientists make useful applications, like personalized cancer treatments or new vaccines.”

Autodesk, which is still best known for producing AutoCAD software for architects and engineers, wants to stake a claim in the center of a promising new world.

The company is collaborating with leading scientists on a research effort known as “Project Cyborg.” They’re attempting to build a software platform that could enable greater design complexity as researchers work to engineer self-assembling DNA, proteins, viruses, cells, tissues and more.

esselte said:

So apparently it’s possible to “3D print” a virus (biological, not computer) for an easy thousand bucks.

https://recode.net/2014/05/05/autodesk-builds-its-own-virus-as-the-software-giant-develops-design-tools-for-life-itself/

Autodesk Builds Its Own Virus, as the Software Giant Develops Design Tools for Life Itself

May 5, 2014, 6:00 AM PDT

By James Temple

Autodesk, which develops design software for building very big things, just built a very small thing.

Its own virus.

The San Rafael, Calif., company has revealed to Re/code that last month it produced a synthetic Phi-X174 bacteriophage, a virus that infects the E. coli bacteria but is totally benign for humans. They conducted the experiment in a controlled lab setting with the help of Dr. Paul Jaschke of Stanford University.

The effort was a sort of scientific homage to the work of the J. Craig Venter Institute, which first produced the self-replicating synthetic virus back in 2003, following a more than five-year research effort. In Autodesk’s case, it took a little more than two weeks and about $1,000.

That achievement says a lot about how far the science of synthetic biology has come — and a lot about where Autodesk is going.

“These viruses started their existence as a file on my laptop and a number with a DNA synthesis vendor!” said Andrew Hessel, a distinguished researcher with Autodesk’s new Bio/Nano Programmable Matter group, in an email.

“It’s a 3-D printed virus,” he added. “With further development of the process, the designs, the design software — we can help scientists make useful applications, like personalized cancer treatments or new vaccines.”

Autodesk, which is still best known for producing AutoCAD software for architects and engineers, wants to stake a claim in the center of a promising new world.

The company is collaborating with leading scientists on a research effort known as “Project Cyborg.” They’re attempting to build a software platform that could enable greater design complexity as researchers work to engineer self-assembling DNA, proteins, viruses, cells, tissues and more.

This would be huge news. I assume the results have been published in a reputable journal. Can you direct me to the paper?

Nothing on PubMed but here is a poster – Redesign and Construction of Bacteriophage Genomes in Yeast

dv said:

This would be huge news. I assume the results have been published in a reputable journal. Can you direct me to the paper?

DV,

Which part would be huge news – the creation of synthetic viruses, the creation of this virus in particular, or the creation of a virus for $1,000?

I can’t find any paper. I haven’t really been able to find anything substantial about the J.Craig Venter Foundation work mentioned in the article either.

Possibly the web site I quoted is making stuff up, or exaggerating. I certainly hope not, as I have both $1,000 and an abiding desire to wipe out humanity!

esselte said:

dv said:

This would be huge news. I assume the results have been published in a reputable journal. Can you direct me to the paper?

DV,

Which part would be huge news – the creation of synthetic viruses, the creation of this virus in particular, or the creation of a virus for $1,000?

I can’t find any paper. I haven’t really been able to find anything substantial about the J.Craig Venter Foundation work mentioned in the article either.

Possibly the web site I quoted is making stuff up, or exaggerating. I certainly hope not, as I have both $1,000 and an abiding desire to wipe out humanity!

Good luck doing that with bacteriophages…

T4 is one of my favourites.

What, so http://tokyo3.org/forums/holiday isn’t a reputable journal now?

esselte said:

the creation of a virus for $1,000?

This.

evening fossils and assorted sauruses

esselte said:

I can’t find any paper. I haven’t really been able to find anything substantial about the J.Craig Venter Foundation work mentioned in the article either.

J. Craig Venter is a somewhat controversial character, as he’s a big advocate for patenting gene sequences.

From Craig Venter

John Craig Venter (born October 14, 1946) is an American biologist and entrepreneur. He is known for being one of the first to sequence the human genome and the first to transfect a cell with a synthetic genome. Venter founded Celera Genomics, The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), and is now working at JCVI to create synthetic biological organisms. He was listed on Time magazine’s 2007 and 2008 Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.

From J. Craig Venter Institute

The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) is a non-profit genomics research institute founded by J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. in October 2006. The Institute was the result of consolidating four organizations: the Center for the Advancement of Genomics, The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), the Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives, and the J. Craig Venter Science Foundation Joint Technology Center. It has facilities in Rockville, Maryland and La Jolla, California.

The Institute studies the societal implications of genomics in addition to genomics itself. The Institute’s research involves genomic medicine; environmental genomic analysis; clean energy; synthetic biology; and ethics, law, and economics. The Institute employs over 400 people, including Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith.

[…]

To provide administrative and financial support for TIGR, TCAG, IBEA and JTC, Venter created the non-profit J. Craig Venter Science Foundation (JCVSF), providing it with an initial endowment of $100 million of his own money. JCVSF coordinated policy and research activities between its affiliated organizations, and carried out investment management and fund-raising activities on their behalf. In addition, JCVSF explored ways to foster science education and scientific innovation.

[…]

The pre-history of JCVI is deeply entwined with the race to sequence the human genome. Craig Venter was a researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and had started The Institute for Genomic Research, a nonprofit private research institute, in 1992 to work on various sequencing projects, including the Human Genome Project (HGP). Among the various accomplishments of TIGR was the first complete genomic sequencing of a free living organism, Haemophilus influenzae, in 1995. This used a shotgun sequencing technique pioneered earlier, but which had never been used for a whole bacterium until TIGR’s project.

Venter vocally disagreed with the manner in which the HGP project was being managed, and in 1998, TIGR found itself excluded from the U.S. HGP groups selected for continued funding by NIH. In May 1998, Venter announced that he was quitting the HGP and had joined with investors to start a commercial venture, Celera, which would produce the complete genome sequence in three years – seven years’ less time than the HGP timetable. The costs of the sequencing effort would be recovered by marketing the sequences, which would be held in a proprietary database as intellectual property protected by patent. Dozens of other companies including Incyte Pharmaceuticals and Human Genome Sciences also began patenting sequences.

To many researchers, the thought of gene patenting was anathema. They worried about a future in which they would need to secure dozens of licenses from private firms before they could conduct research. To them, the notion of patenting a naturally occurring substance violated common sense. In response to their outcry, the NIH massively increased the pace of its own sequencing endeavours, adopting several of the strategies that Venter had announced that he was using to expedite Celera’s sequencing campaign. The political, personal, and ethical conflicts of the race between the public and private sectors in this effort have been documented in numerous books and articles.